A WINLESS Melbourne has suffered a huge setback with premiership defender Jake Lever sent for surgery on an injured ankle.
Lever hasn’t played since the Demons’ round two loss to the Kangaroos, when he rolled his ankle twice.
Melbourne had been hoping to manage the issue but after consulting with a specialist, the 29-year-old will now undergo surgery which will rule him out for up to eight weeks.
“We’ve been looking to manage Jake conservatively, and he’s done a power of work to try to get up for each game, but due to a lack of function and continued pain, he hasn’t been able to do that,” Demons high performance manager Selwyn Griffith said.
“As part of our management process, we sought some expert opinions.
“He saw a surgeon today and, unfortunately for Jake, he will now undergo surgical intervention and he’ll likely be out for approximately eight weeks.”
Lever’s surgery comes with Melbourne’s season handing by a thread after a 0-4 start leading into their clash with the Bombers at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, young forward Matt Jefferson (hand) and first-year star Xavier Lindsay (knee) could be available for selection this week after overcoming their respective injuries.
Both will undergo fitness tests ahead of Gather Round.
“The aim for Matt has been about returning him to full hand function and he wasn’t comfortable enough to do contest-based work last week,” Griffith said.
“He’s progressed well over the weekend and will look to integrate into training this week, with the availability to be determined after our main training session on Thursday.
“Xavier had a great training session over the weekend … He’ll look to integrate this week with determination of his availability after Thursday’s main training session.”
In not so good news for the Demons, ruck Tom Campbell has been sidelined with a minor hamstring injury.
“Tom had some hamstring tightness following an incident during the VFL game,” Griffith said.
“He was removed from the game at half-time and some imaging has shown a low-grade hamstring strain.”
