ESSENDON will nervously await the results of scans on Martin Gleeson's ankle after the defender limped from the field in the fourth quarter of Sunday's JLT Community Series clash against Geelong at Central Reserve in Colac.
Gleeson rolled his ankle in a marking contest and was helped from the field by trainers late in the contest, while star midfielder David Zaharakis copped a kick to the outside of his leg just before the final siren that saw him limping around.
Bombers coach John Worsfold said the club's medical staff would assess Gleeson over the next few days.
"You never know how bad it is; you've got to wait a few days obviously," he said.
"He's got a couple of weeks (to recover)."
WATCH: Gleeson goes down
Worsfold was also quick to allay any fears around Zaharakis, who was noticeably limping at the final siren.
"Zaharakis was just a kick on the side of his leg, so that's fine," Worsfold said.
Michael Hurley also copped a kick late in the contest that required an ice pack on the injured area.
"He was right to keep going but we just said, 'That'll do'," Worsfold said.
Worsfold said speedy forward Orazio Fantasia, who had minor knee surgery during the week, was unlikely to play in round one.
"Fantasia is probably unlikely for round one, but I wouldn't totally rule him out, and Mitch Brown is still a chance to be pushing up for round one as well," Worsfold said.
"Overall we're in pretty good health."
Worsfold said the four-point win over Geelong was a much-improved performance compared with the 87-point drubbing the Bombers copped at the hands of Richmond in the club's first JLT Community Series game.
The Bombers lost star midfielder Zach Merrett to a head knock just 10 minutes into that game, while Jake Stringer was also limited by a knock to the head.
"We went in pretty well prepared (for the Tigers game) but there were a few factors around that whole game that we were disappointed in but not concerned about," Worsfold said.
"We knew a lot of that stuff was going to right itself after just basically having a chat to the players.
"They're really keen to learn and keep attacking the game that we want to play, and they just went a little bit overboard in worrying about that rather than letting it unfold."
