North Melbourne vice-captain Drew Petrie has suffered an unfortunate setback just days after his return to the AFL.

The 27 year-old had recovered well from a broken left foot but reported soreness in his right foot following the match against Fremantle on Sunday.

“It felt a bit odd when I was warming down after the final siren and the alarm bells started ringing when I realised how similar the pain was to when I injured my left foot eleven or so weeks ago,” Petrie told kangaroos.com.au.

“I spoke to our medical staff and I had a CT scan which showed there was a tiny fracture in the fifth metatarsal…so almost the same injury but on the opposite side.”

Scans also revealed that Petrie’s left foot had healed well and the screw that was inserted had held up perfectly.

“It’s got nothing to do with the old injury and one injury hasn’t caused the other. It’s simply a case of bad luck and I really can’t believe it.”

Petrie will undergo surgery tonight to have a rod inserted into his foot and is expected to miss up to six weeks.

“I am remaining pretty positive despite the circumstances and at least I know what lies ahead as far as my rehabilitation and recovery goes.

“Now that I’ve had a taste of footy in 2010 from the weekend, I’m as hungry as ever and will be looking forward to getting back out there as soon as I can.”

Injury list - June 1
Daniel Wells (groin) - test
Brent Harvey (elbow) - test
Aaron Edwards (shoulder) - test
Leigh Adams (hamstring) - 1 week
Luke Delaney (broken wrist) - 4 weeks
Drew Petrie (stress reaction foot) - 4-6 weeks
Ayden Kennedy (stress fracture, foot) - 5 weeks
Liam Anthony (shoulder) - indefinite
Ben Ross (groin/hip) - indefinite