UNDER-FIRE Carlton faces the prospect of being without skipper Marc Murphy for several weeks.
The Carlton captain withdrew from the clash against the Kangaroos in Hobart on Saturday night during the warm up after aggravating an injury to the plantar fascia in his left foot.
Murphy returned to Melbourne on Sunday morning wearing a moon boot. He will have scans over the coming days and is hopeful he won't be sidelined for too long.
"I'm not too sure yet, I think I will have scans tomorrow or Tuesday, just to confirm what it is," Murphy told Channel Nine on Sunday.
"I've sort of had a sore plantar fascia – which most guys get throughout their career – which I've just sort of been dealing with.
"In the warm up, it sort of popped on me a little bit, which can sometimes be a good thing with a plantar fascia.
"Maybe it might be a one-week or two-week thing, I'm not too sure yet, I'll know more after the scan."
ICYMI | An aggravated plantar fascia during the warm-up saw our skipper @marcmurphy3 forced out of tonight's line-up.#AFLNorthBlues #BoundByBlue pic.twitter.com/LfT4XMOSWh
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) April 14, 2018
Geelong's Harry Taylor suffered a similar injury in round one and remains on the Cats' injury list, Melbourne co-captain Jack Viney missed much of last season with the condition, while former Geelong ruckman Brad Ottens was unavailable for the first nine rounds of 2008 due to a plantar fascia issue.
Murphy's absence is a bitter blow for the Blues, who are winless in their first four games of 2018, and were handed an 86-point thumping by North Melbourne in round four.
Carlton is already without reigning best-and-fairest winner Sam Docherty, who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in November, and is expected to miss most of the season.
And key defender Caleb Marchbank is tipped to miss at least the next three weeks after injuring his right ankle in round three.
Murphy missed the final 12 games of the 2016 season after injuring his right ankle in their round 10 win over Geelong.