Sydney Swans coach John Longmire has confirmed that star forward Buddy Franklin has suffered a minor calf setback.

The veteran has been on a modified program since returning to pre-season training and sustained the injury during a session last Friday.

Speaking on SEN radio, Longmire said he expected it to set back Franklin by a week.

โ€œUp until Christmas we were working on his strength. He was doing some really good work and has been doing some work in the last couple of weeks, not with the main group, just doing some rehab training, but heโ€™s been going along really well doing a fair bit of ball work,โ€ Longmire toldย SEN Breakfast.

โ€œLast week his calf tightened up a little bit about halfway through the session which is to be expected that little bumps will pop up every now and then.

โ€œThat was only Friday and has probably put him back a week and heโ€™ll get going next week.โ€

Longmire revealed that lower body injuries continue the biggest problem areas for the 34-year old.

โ€œItโ€™s mainly through his groin area and hamstrings and just making sure his adductors and all the core elements through his body are all nice and strong,โ€ he said.

โ€œThatโ€™s the biggest concern, so thatโ€™s the area weโ€™ve been working on since halfway through last year when we found out he couldnโ€™t play and thatโ€™s what heโ€™s been doing all his work on and heโ€™s been going really well.

โ€œHeโ€™s gone through throughout the off-season and right throughout Christmas and has done a power of work and gotten himself really strong through that area of his body.

โ€œThatโ€™s the main thing, as long as we continue to go forward in that area.โ€

Franklin has played just 10 AFL games since the end of 2018 and missed the entire 2020 campaign due to ongoing lower body injuries.

He is set to enter the seventh season of a nine-year deal worth around $10 million.