North Melbourne vice-captain Drew Petrie will see a specialist this week to determine whether surgery is required to repair a broken bone in his foot.

Petrie fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot during training at Arden Street on Tuesday.

“I was running along and I changed direction slightly…I thought I stepped on a sprinkler head on the oval but that was actually when the bone broke,” Petrie told kangaroos.com.au.

“The instant pain was really sharp but then it went away.”

It is not yet known how long the 27 year-old will be sidelined for.

“I’ve been lucky and have only missed one game in nine years through injury.

“It’s not as if I have injured my knee and will be out for a year, so it means I’ll still get to play a large chunk of the season.

“I’ve never been injured like this before so it’s really different for me. I’m disappointed and it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I was due to miss the first two games of the season through suspension anyway but it’ll hurt not being able to play straight after that.”

The club will release more details in due course.

Drew Petrie player profile