AN OPTIMISTIC Matthew Kreuzer has not given up playing in the early rounds of the season, despite suffering another foot fracture this week.
The 25-year-old will be in a moon boot for between four and six weeks after developing soreness in his troubled right foot at training.
Despite a history of fractures, which has required two operations and saw him miss all but one game last season, Kreuzer remains upbeat and is confident the latest injury is on the minor scale.
"It is a bit frustrating, but obviously that's football," Kreuzer said on Friday.
"The good news is it's only going to be a short period and there's hardly any damage, which is nice.
"Best case is hopefully [I'm] up and going pretty soon, at pretty much the start of the season, so that's what I'm aiming for.
"I've spoken to people who are saying that as well, so that's what we've got to hope for."
Scans revealed a hairline fracture of the fifth metatarsal in Kreuzer’s foot, which occurred when he landed awkwardly in a recent training session.
The fracture is to a different part of his foot to last year’s one.
While he could have been forgiven for thinking the worst, Kreuzer said he knew he hadn't suffered as serious an injury as before.
"I felt it at training but when it first happened I wasn't too concerned," he said.
"It was nothing like previous times.
"I just landed a bit funny and felt something really minor.
"I kept going for a little bit and then thought, ‘It's only training, I'll get the docs to have a poke around.’"
The former No.1 draft pick has failed to play a full season since 2009 because of issues with his body.
Despite his track record – and in particular the issues with his right foot – Kreuzer doesn't believe he'll be sidelined longer than the forecast month and a half.
He said he was actually encouraged by the fact his foot held up for the majority of the pre-season and enabled him to build his fitness for the year ahead.
"Because it's that minor, what's occurred, it should be very quick, not like the other ones," he said.
"It was actually nice to be able to do a full pre-season, and for that to happen at the end was a bit frustrating.
"At least I know now I've gotten through the whole pre-season, the foot coped with it and I've got a good base ready for the year."
