MELBOURNE co-captain Jack Viney is eyeing a comeback against Port Adelaide in just ten days time, with the tough midfielder hoping to return ahead of schedule from a serious foot injury.
Viney had foot surgery after injuring the plantar fascia in his foot during the Demons' 35-point loss against Sydney in round 15 and was slated to miss between four and six weeks.
The young leader remains on crutches following the surgery but is planning to increase his training load significantly in the next week to prove his fitness.
The Demons tackle Port Adelaide at the MCG on July 22.
"I'm not too sure [when I'll return, but], hopefully in the next couple of weeks," Viney told melbournefc.com.au.
"I'm going to try and get up for the Port Adelaide game, but at this stage we're just taking it day by day. We're just seeing how my pain is and what I’m able to do and go from there.
"It's hard because I want to try and get back as quickly as I can, but I can't look past what I've got to do on the day unfortunately."
Viney said this stage of his rehabilitation would be slow going.
"The surgery was a success and I'm just into rehab at the moment, to try and get off the crutches," Viney said.
"Hopefully, within the next couple of days, I'll be off those, then I'll walk around for a couple of days and then I'll get into some running and I’ll be back before you know it.
"I can't really weight-bear through it and walk properly. So, my main goal is to do lots of little exercises to get me up to walking, then when I start walking I can get into some weight-bearing stuff."
Viney conceded he had been carrying the injury in his foot for a while.
"It was probably sore for a year or so," he said.
"I've just been managing it and then it just gave way during the Sydney game, and then I partially tore it.
"I went into surgery to get it fully done (fully torn) and onto recovery."