St Kilda midfielder David Armitage has undergone a second surgery on his troublesome adductor and will miss at least a further month of football.
Armitage missed rounds two and three after injuring his groin in Stย Kilda's round one loss to Melbourne.
He returned to the side in round four against Collingwood, only to aggravate the injury once more, forcing him to missย the last five rounds.
The 28-year-old underwent surgery last month and was expected toย be sidelined for around four weeks.
However, he has been forced to go under the knife once more, undergoing hernia surgery to resolve the adductor issue.
St Kilda general manager of football, Jamie Cox, said the club hopes the midfielder will be fit return to return within four to six weeks.
โDave has been having a bit of an issue in the groin/adductor area. He had hernia repair surgery yesterday, which seems to have been very successful,โ Coxย told the club's website.
โWeโve listed Dave as indefinite for return. Itโs really now just a matter of getting him back running.
โWeโd hope that Daveโs four to six weeks away, but really now itโs a matter of getting him back up and running and hopefully getting him back as soon as possible, but not rushing him because we need to make sure that heโs right.โ
Meanwhile, Nathan Wright and Jack Newnes will both undergo fitness tests on Thursday after suffering concussions last week.
โWe had two boys โ Jack Newnes in the AFL game, Nathan Wright in the VFL game โ who both missed the back end of the games through concussion.
โTheyโre both recovering OK. Theyโre both a test for this weekend and the usual procedures apply with both of those."
The Saints take on the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon at Etihad Stadium.
