DEMON recruit Kade Kolodjashnij has been ruled out of Thursday night’s clash with Sydney after suffering a head knock in Round 3.

The 23-year-old copped a stray elbow in Melbourne’s loss to the Bombers last Friday night and General Manager of Football Operations Josh Mahoney says he will need some more time to recover.

“Kade received an elbow to the head late in the game against Essendon and showed some concussion symptoms early in the week,” Mahoney told Melbourne Media.

“Due to the short break and Kade’s concussion history, he was ruled out of Thursday’s game.”

The former Sun faced some similar concussion symptoms during his time at Gold Coast, so the Demons have opted to take a cautious approach on the back of the side’s six-day break.

At this stage, Kolodjashnij isn’t expected to sidelined for too long, with the club set to make a call on the left footer in the lead up to Round 5.

“His availability for next week will be determined based on his ability to progress through our protocol,” Mahoney said.

After an adductor injury delayed his start to 2019, Kolodjashnij has played the last two games for the Dees, and a total of 80 matches to this point of his AFL career.