Melbourne defender Jake Lever might miss another week of football, as he continues his comeback from injury.
Coach Simon Goodwin was confident Lever would be able to join the main group for training on Wednesday, however, he was only able to do a limited amount of running with the rehab group.
The Melbourne star ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in round 11 of last season.
Goodwin claimed a rolled ankle may keep Lever out for another week, an injury which he suffered in a VFL encounter.
“He’s done an incredible amount of work over a long period to bring himself back," Goodwin told the media on Wednesday.
“This is a full 12-month recovery … he’s done eight weeks of training with the group and played a couple of VFL games.
“He rolled an ankle but if he gets through training today and he feels confident then he’ll play.
“But if he doesn’t feel confident with his ankle, purely his ankle, then we’ll give him another week and he’ll be ready to go for the Queen’s Birthday game the week after.”
The Demons have had a disappointing start to the season, winning only three of their opening 10 games.
In other injury news for the Demons, Christian Salem will return to the side this week after recovering from a concussion.
Steven May and Kade Kolodjashnij will return in the VFL this weekend.