THE WESTERN BULLDOGS' worst fears have been realised with scans confirming midfielder Clay Smith has ruptured the ACL in his right knee for the second time in 12 months.
The promising 21-year-old sustained the injury in the VFL on Sunday during the third quarter of Footscray's 53-point win over Essendon at Whitten Oval.
The club has opted for a traditional reconstruction, instead of a LARS procedure, with surgery to take place over the next few days.
"It has been confirmed with MRI (scan) that (Clay) has injured his ACL – he has had a specialist review yesterday and it was confirmed that he will need that repaired again." said club medical services manager Andrew McKenzie.
It has been a frustrating 12 months for Smith, who first ruptured his ACL against the Bombers in round 16 of the 2013 AFL season.
In April, he and teammate Christian Howard contracted salmonella poisoning, and then in the only senior appearance since his reconstruction, Smith injured his AC joint in the round 10 clash with Gold Coast, sidelining him for several weeks.
Smith has played 31 senior games since being taken with pick 17 in the 2011 NAB AFL Draft.
The news comes just a day after a serious foot injury ended the season of fellow young gun Mitch Wallis.
Scans revealed that the 21-year-old had suffered a break in the fifth metatarsal bone in his foot against Essendon on the weekend, with the recuperation period expected to take at least six weeks.
