IN positive news for Melbourne’s Tom Sparrow, the Demon is recovering well following a knock to his head during Sunday’s match against North Melbourne.
Sparrow was stretchered off the ground following the incident, with the club’s AFL High Performance Manager Selwyn Griffith providing an update on the 25-year-old.
“Tom recovered well following that incident, but he did enter into the concussion protocols,” Griffith said.
“He's been feeling relatively asymptomatic, which is a positive sign, but we’ll only progress him through those protocols until his symptoms allow.
“He'll aim to be back in at the club on Thursday when we're training.”
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The Dees will also be without Jake Lever, after the defender pulled up sore following Sunday’s game against the Roos.
“Jake's had a bit of an interrupted season with the ankle surgery earlier in April, and it has been quite a frustrating year for him,” Griffith said.
“He's had a great couple of weeks of training, but after the game he reported that he had some increasing pain around his ankle and foot.
“Following some imaging, it’s shown that he has some irritation to the sheath, which is around the tendon near the back of his ankle.
“We're going to intervene with that irritation, which involves an injection to hopefully help settle some of his pain.
"Our key priority for Jake is to return him to peak performance, so we want to really make sure that the program we put around him is dealing with the pain first and foremost and then ensuring that he can return to peak performance, because it has been a frustrating period for him.
“At this stage, we don't have an exact timeline on his return.”
Harrison Petty (concussion), Oliver Sestan (hamstring) and Aidan Johnson (ankle) are all facing their final ticks of approval for a full return from their respective injuries.
“Harrison had a great week on the training track last week. He progressed through those final stages of the concussion protocols,” Griffith said.
“He still has one stage to complete which involves full training and a test with the doctors, but we're hoping that he'll pass both of those and be available for selection this week.
“Oliver completed training with the team last week, so the plan will be for him to full train and be available for selection.
“Aidan’s had a great couple of weeks of training too - focusing on his agility, his aerial component of his game and that's all progressed really well.
“He full trained last week and had a great session on the weekend with Harrison and Oliver. So, he’ll full train this week to be available as well.”
Marty Hore (knee), Shane McAdam (Achilles) and Andy Moniz-Wakefield (knee) are all continuing to move through their long-term rehab schedules.
