SYDNEY'S Sam Reid has suffered a setback in his return from injury, with the key forward undergoing knee surgery during the shutdown period.

The 28-year-old, who played every game for the Swans last season, missed the club's round one win over Adelaide with what most believed to be was a calf injury.

However the soft-tissue concerns that hampered his pre-season were actually overtaken by a knee injury which surfaced before the season and has required surgery.

"Sam had an interrupted pre-season with some soft-tissue injuries but was back in competitive training prior to round one," Swans football boss Charlie Gardiner told AFL.com.au.

"He developed some soreness in his knee training in the lead-up to round one and he actually had a scan which showed he had damage to his meniscus.

"He had an arthroscope in late March just to clean that up. It was a fairly straightforward clean up."

The 2012 premiership forward has battled injuries at different stages of his career, however the Swans expect him to return to the club's training program by the end of April.

With the season on hold due to the spread of the coronavirus, it allows the club not to rush Reid's recovery with a view of him being ready by the resumption of games.

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"We don't think he'll miss too much training and he should be back training by the end of the month then we'll just progress him. He's had a bit of a setback but the benefit is we've got a little bit of time to get him up and going," Gardiner said.

Reid, who has played 143 games for the Swans, has joined superstar forward Lance Franklin as being sidelined with a knee injury, with the club confident Franklin will be available once games recommence around mid-year.

The club has a fit list, with Lewis Melican (hamstring) nearly available in round one.

However another youngster strained a hamstring while training away from the club in recent weeks. 

"Joel Amartey did a hamstring a couple of weeks ago and he's suffered a hamstring injury in the pre-season as well so it's one we've got to be cautious about. He'll miss a bit of training time. Otherwise we're reasonably healthy," Gardiner said.