NORTH Melbourne vice-captain Drew Petrie is set to miss up to six weeks with another foot fracture.
The 27-year-old made a successful return from a broken left foot in Sunday's loss to Fremantle in Perth, but reported soreness in his right foot after the game.
Petrie will undergo surgery on Tuesday night, where a rod will be inserted into his foot.
"It felt a bit odd when I was warming down after the final siren and the alarm bells started ringing when I realised how similar the pain was to when I injured my left foot 11 or so weeks ago," Petrie told kangaroos.com.au.
"I spoke to our medical staff and I had a CT scan which showed there was a tiny fracture in the fifth metatarsal … so almost the same injury but on the opposite side."
However, scans revealed that the key forward's left foot had healed well and that the screw inserted had held up perfectly.
"It's got nothing to do with the old injury and one injury hasn't caused the other. It's simply a case of bad luck and I really can’t believe it," Petrie said.
"I am remaining pretty positive despite the circumstances and at least I know what lies ahead as far as my rehabilitation and recovery goes.
"Now that I've had a taste of footy in 2010 from the weekend, I'm as hungry as ever and will be looking forward to getting back out there as soon as I can."
