HAMSTRUNG Collingwood star Jamie Elliott has sent another scare through the Magpie camp.
The injury-prone forward failed to complete the Magpies' last pre-Christmas session on Tuesday, but the club insists he was removed from training merely as a precautionary measure.
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"I wouldn't say he hurt it (hamstring), but it was just precautionary that he didn't finish the session," Collingwood football manager Geoff Walsh told AFL.com.au on Thursday.
"We're finished for Christmas now and by the time he comes back with the rest of the boys in three weeks I'd expect him to be joining training."
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The development emerged just days after Walsh denied reports that another brilliant Magpie forward in Jordan De Goey had also sustained a hamstring injury.
The Magpie Army harbours grave fears for Elliott's playing future given he has missed two of the past three seasons with injury.
The 26-year-old was sidelined for the entire 2016 season with a pars defect in his lower spine, returning to kick 34 goals in 17 games in 2017, before suffering further frustration this year.
An ankle injury hampered Elliott's pre-season and then sidelined him for the opening two rounds before ongoing hamstring problems, which prompted surgery on his right leg in August, ensured he had just four intermittent VFL appearances to show for the season.
In November Elliott and fellow hamstring concern Darcy Moore travelled with club doctor Ruben Branson to Germany to seek answers from world-renowned hamstring injury specialist Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt.
At the time, Walsh said he hoped the fact-finding mission would prove "a watershed moment" for both players.
The high-leaping Elliott, who signed a one-year deal at season's end, had been training strongly in recent weeks, impressing with his intensity and physical condition.
The Pies' 2015 leading goalkicker has played 89 games and kicked 138 goals.