COLLINGWOOD defender Josh Smith has escaped serious injury after hurting his left ankle at training on Monday morning.
The Magpies sent Smith for scans on Monday and the results are positive, with the important defender likely to miss just this Saturday's JLT Community Series clash against Fremantle.
The club is hopeful the defender, who was on crutches as he hobbled into the scanning clinic, will be fit to face Richmond in the club's final pre-season game on March 11.
"It's unlikely that we will be taking Josh to Western Australia this week," Magpies director of football Geoff Walsh told the club's website.
"While the injury isn’t major, it is enough for us to hold him back for this week at least."
Star forward Jamie Elliott was not out on the track and looks unlikely to feature against the Dockers on Saturday.
Smith went down in a marking contest and grabbed at his left leg in pain, half an hour into the session at Olympic Park Oval on Monday.
He was backing back into traffic to try to intercept a kick when the injury occurred.
His teammate stood his ground and grabbed the mark, as Smith attempted to backpedal, with the impact of the contest causing the defender to crumple to the ground.
The medical staff rushed out to assist him and he was helped off the field and into the change rooms in the arms of the trainers.
Ruckman Mason Cox left training early after grabbing at his right hamstring; Josh Daicos received treatment on his left hamstring before retreating into the rooms and Chris Mayne hurt his right hand in a ground-level contest.
Mayne had a sizeable ice pack on his hand after copping the injury towards the end of the session.
After being elevated off the rookie list, Smith was a revelation for the Magpies last year averaging 20.8 disposals from his 18 games and finishing seventh in the club's best and fairest award.
The 23-year-old hurt his right ankle in the first game of last year's pre-season series against Geelong at Simonds Stadium.
The Pies are hopeful Elliott might be fit to face the Dockers in Mandurah this Saturday, but that appears increasingly unlikely with him failing to train on Monday.
Wells was slated to come into consideration for the Pies' final pre-season game against Richmond on March 11, but will need to do plenty of work to ensure he is a certain starter for round one.
Jack Crisp and Rupert Wills were other Magpies in the rehab group.
In positive news, Ben Reid trained strongly and luckless midfielder Tim Broomhead is back in full training after overcoming a shoulder problem.
Scott Pendlebury, Adam Treloar, Taylor Adams and Brodie Grundy are all expected to play against the Dockers after being rested for the first JLT Community Series game against Essendon.
