Scans have revealed Mattaes Phillipou has avoided major damage to his calf and surrounding areas, after the South Australian was a very late omission moments before the first bounce on Saturday night.

The young gun will not make the trip to Perth with the team this week and is expected to spend the next three to four weeks on the sideline as he recovers from a re-aggravation of his plantaris.

Phillipou was set to make a return against the Pies on the weekend after an interrupted start to the season overcoming a stress fracture earlier in the year and a previous plantaris issue, which saw the 20-year-old subbed out of Round 12 in Alice Springs and miss Round 14.

“Mattaes trained fully last week and had no issues in the earlier game-day warm ups,” EGM Football David Misson said.

“A diligent and resilient young player, we’re all behind him as he overcomes this latest setback, and can’t wait to see him get back to doing what he loves again soon.”

Key Defender Dougal Howard has suffered an unfortunate setback in his respective return to play timeline. The 29-year-old was honing in on a return this week before re-aggravating his recovering hamstring during training.

A more specific timeline will be provided for Dougal in the coming weeks after his injury settles.

Max King is recovering well following surgery on Monday to address and repair persistent knee pain.

“Max in good spirits. We’ll have some more information as the knee settles post-surgery.” Misson said.

INJURY LIST 

Cordy | Pectoral | 2 weeks

Phillipou | Plantaris | 3-4 weeks

Howard | Hamstring | TBC

King | Knee | Season