MELBOURNE fans can breathe easy after star defenders Jake Lever and Steven May were cleared of any serious damage from a bruising win over Hawthorn on Saturday.
Lever has some knee soreness but has escaped any structural damage and could even be cleared to face Port Adelaide this Saturday night.
May spent Saturday night in hospital after suffering two cracked ribs and will miss the clash against the Power, but the club is hopeful he'll return to face Crows the following Thursday to start Gather Round.
"Pleasingly, Jake has been cleared of major injury to his right knee. He, instead, looks to have irritated a joint under his kneecap," Dees footy boss Alan Richardson said.
"We will see how he responds this week at training, but we are optimistic he will be available for Saturday night’s game in Adelaide.
"Steven was obviously in a lot of pain following that heavy contact in the second quarter of Saturday's game, so we sent him off to hospital for some scans. The results of these showed two fractures to his ribs, and a small transverse process fracture.
"At this stage, Steven will miss this week's match against Port Adelaide. We will continue to monitor his pain and function following that, in the lead up to our Round 4 game."
The absence of May could lead to a recall for defender Adam Tomlinson, who enjoyed a dominant 24-disposal performance in Casey's 41-point VFL loss to Box Hill on Sunday.
