Hawthorn skipper Ben McEvoy will miss his side's upcoming battle with Carlton after being ruled out with a minor neck fracture.
The 32-year-old sustained the injury during a marking contest on Thursday at the club's Bunjil Bagora training base at Waverley.
While a blow for the 2-0 Hawks ahead of their Round 3 date with the unbeaten Blues, club doctor Liam West claimed that discussions were still being undertaken surrounding the veteran's path back.
"Once healed, this will have no impact on Ben's ability to play football moving forward and at this stage we expect him to return to the team in the back half of the season,โ West told hawthornfc.com.au.
โWeโll continue to assess Ben throughout his recovery following further specialist advice.โ
As of yet, a specific date for the ex-Saint's return has not been provided by the club.
Although stressing that the setback was far from ideal given he has already missed game-time due to health and safety protocols this season, McEvoy was buoyed by the fact that the ailment would not hamper him permanently.
โI was pretty sore straight after, then yesterday afternoon went to get some scans,โ 245-gamer said.
โIt has been confirmed that Iโve got a small fracture in one of the lateral bones in my neck, but itโs all stable and safe.
โIโm going to have some time out of the game while that heals, but Iโm really pleased that Iโm going to make a full recovery with no ongoing complications.โ
In McEvoy's absence, Jaeger O'Meara will once again take the captaincy reigns after leading Sam Mitchell's side during Hawthorn's victory over North Melbourne in Round 1.
The opening bounce between two of the league's five undefeated sides is scheduled for 1:10pm AEDT on Sunday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
