St Kilda's Hunter Clark underwent facial surgery on Saturday morning after colliding with teammate Dan Butler in a gruesome contest during the last quarter.
Clark, who is yet to be given a timeline on his return, spent the night in hospital to repair the compound fracture in his nose.
Captain Jack Steele acknowledged the tough road his youngster has been on, especially in the last 12 months.
“I’d say he’s fairly sore. I think he’s already been in for surgery to get that fixed up, so definitely feeling for him because he’s had a few incidents like this,” the Saints captain told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“He had his broken jaw last year, he had his AC joint at the start of the season, so he would be a bit sore this morning.
“I’m not too sure what it looks like, I think it’ll be a couple of weeks at least.”
Head of football David Rath gave an update on the 23-year-old.
“This is really disappointing for Hunter,” Rath said in a Saints statement.
“He’s had a very unlucky run with injuries over the past 18 months.
“However, the good thing about Hunter is that he brings such a great attitude to his rehabilitation, something I have no doubt we’ll see again this time around.”
In only his third game of the year, Clark has struggled to get his body right in 2022.
The pick no.8 in 2017 underwent shoulder surgery to repair his AC joint in the pre-season and found it difficult to force his way into the senior side.
The Saints managed to come away with the four points against top four contenders Carlton, in an exciting encounter at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
Brett Ratten's men keep their finals chances alive and now sit inside the eight, snapping a three-game losing streak to extend their victories to nine.
St Kilda face Fremantle in round 17 in what will be an intriguing clash, as the Saints need to continue their new-found form to increase the likelihood of September action.
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