Essendon star Devon Smith has been ruled out for the rest of the season in a bitter blow to the club's finals hopes.
The reigning best and fairest winner has been dealing with a knee problem for several seasons, though he missed the club's round nine match against Fremantle with a fresh injury.
Smith is set to have surgery on the issue, seeing him miss the remainder of the season.
MORE: Carlton's Brendon Bolton gets full support of the board as club battens down the hatches
Bombers coach John Worsfold spoke about the 26-year-old on Tuesday.
"The understanding we have is that he saw his surgeon last night and he will require surgery to fix his knee," Worsfold told reporters.
"He's got an acute injury, which has just happened, and he's also got his long-standing PCL injury that he's had for a couple of years.
"We're just waiting on clarity around if they're going to fix both at the same time. That sounds like it's the way it's going to go, but we'll release something that's more clear this afternoon.
"If he has the PCL fixed as well, the old injury corrected, then that's a six-month downtime."
Worsfold confirmed that the club was aware of his PCL issue prior to picking him up following 109 games at the Giants.
Playing as a small forward, Smith averaged almost 8.5 tackles a game in his first season for the Dons, the second highest individual tally for a season on record.
His loss is a big hit to the club's flag hopes, with the pre-season fancies already precariously placed with a 4-5 record.
Worsfold did confirm that Shaun McKernan would be right to return from his hamstring injury, though possibly through the VFL, while Marty Gleeson would play in the twos following his fractured cheekbone.
The Bombers take on Richmond in the annual Dreamtime at the 'G game this Saturday night.
