BRISBANE Lions coach Justin Leppitsch has warned the football world not to read too much into his dropping of James Aish to the reserves last week. 

Aish, 19, is out of contract at the end of the season and the centre of much speculation around his future, but Leppitsch says the midfielder’s demotion is part of any youngster's journey.

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The South Australian took the knock on the chin and is in line for senior selection this weekend after playing a starring role against Southport in the NEAFL. 

Leppitsch told reporters on Thursday that everyone needed to take a deep breath when critiquing Aish. 

"I know there's a lot of hysteria around James," Leppitsch said.

"I think people forget it's ok for a player in your first couple of years to be dropped and come back into the team. He's no different. 

"I thought the best thing for him last week was to go back, get a lot of ball in hand, get physical and be the main man, and it ticked that box."

Leppitsch said Aish was off the pace in the Lions’ final NAB Challenge match against Gold Coast and again in round one against Collingwood, and that's why he was dropped. 

"He's a young player and I think we should all cut him a bit of slack with his development," the coach said.

Another Lions youngster in the headlines this week is third-year forward Michael Close, who ruptured his ACL against North Melbourne last weekend after landing awkwardly on the synthetic outer surface of Etihad Stadium. 

Leppitsch did not want to buy into who was at fault, but said the injury would cost Close more than the 20 matches the forward would miss this year. 

"There's 20 games and for the first 10 of next year he'll be rusty, so you could argue it's 30 (games)," he said. 

"He'll learn good lessons mentally about what he's about to go through and what the game means to him.

"Hopefully he can … become a bit more of a student, do some more work with the coaches and understand the game better. That's the advantages he can have this year."