ESSENDON defender Henry Slattery says he won’t let a fractured cheekbone alter his attack on the ball when he returns to senior football, which could be within a fortnight.

Slattery arrived at Windy Hill on Tuesday morning sporting a slightly swollen left cheekbone, the result of a sickening collision with Carlton spearhead Brendan Fevola in the Bombers’ 35-point win on Sunday.

“It’s not going to stop you again, I suppose,” Slattery replied when asked if his latest injury would make him think twice about repeating such courageous acts.

“It’s just one of those freak things that happens and it doesn’t happen all the time … that’s footy, I suppose.”

Slattery confirmed that Fevola had phoned him on Sunday evening to apologise for the accidental clash in the opening minutes which sent the gutsy youngster to Epworth Hospital.

“He [Fevola] basically said that he felt a bit sick about what happened,” Slattery said.

“[He said] that he was sorry and just basically that he hopes I get better soon, which is very nice.”

Slattery said he had “pulled up pretty well” and hoped to be back on the footy field in a fortnight.

“I saw the doctors all yesterday and they’ve said that the fracture’s not too bad and it’s in a good spot, so hopefully after two weeks it should be all right.”

Slattery has no recollection of Sunday’s incident, which resulted in him being stretchered from the MCG with concussion, although he has since seen a replay.

“Looking at it, it didn’t look too good,” he said.

"But I think the fact that he kneed me in the chest before he got me in the face was probably a good thing, so yeah I count my blessings really.”

“My mum and my girlfriend were there and I felt a bit sorry for them, I suppose it’s hard for a mum to go through that.

“For me, I wasn’t too sure what was going on. I think I said a few swear words and, you know, ‘What am I doing here?’ and things like that … ‘get me back out on the ground’.”

Essendon coach Matthew Knights said his side used Slattery’s inspirational act as motivation during Sunday’s win, although the man himself was reluctant to play up his own deed.

“I suppose all it takes is one action or one person to do one thing in a game and everyone gets spurred by it,” he said.

“Look, I’m just happy the team went about it … when I was in the hospital I was getting updates and I was just really happy that we got a win.”