NORTH Melbourne football operations manager Donald McDonald has confirmed Daniel Pratt's rib injury is not as bad as first thought and the defender will be fit for round one.

In the third quarter of the 53-point loss to Carlton on Friday night at Telstra Dome, Pratt copped an accidental knee in the back from Blues forward Brendan Fevola after the brave Roo backed into a marking contest.

Speaking on Melbourne radio station SEN on Saturday, McDonald said Pratt was released from hospital late on Friday night and, despite initial fears of internal bleeding, just has bruised ribs.

"He copped the full brunt of a rampaging Fev (Brendan Fevola), courageously getting back in the hole," McDonald said.

"Our doctor is an experienced campaigner. Daniel was in a lot of pain we he came off the field, but he sent him off to hospital just as a precaution to make sure there was no bleeding on the lungs.

"He might miss a week or two, but no more, he'll be right for round one, and that's great news for North supporters."

McDonald said the magnitude of the loss to Carlton was disappointing, but there is still plenty of time to get things right before the home-and-away season begins.

"It would have been fantastic to win and get another game in the NAB Cup, another week using great facilities, but the Blues were fantastic, very sharp.

"We felt we still have a lot of work to do, we weren't where we wanted to be as a group, but we've got another month to prepare for that.

"The disappointing thing is we've missed an opportunity to play in Melbourne next week, to get some more membership, and promote ourselves locally."

North's footballl manager pointed out that the Kangas have made more list changes than any other club in the last three years and that the pre-season was crucial for getting games into youngsters.

One such player is 18-year-old Jack Ziebell, who put in a promising debut, kicking two goals and picking up 12 touches.

"The likes of Jack Ziebell... he is the future of the club," McDonald said.

"He's talented, hard at it, a great bloke – there's big expectations on him, but he'll take it in his stride.

"We know we're on the right track, we've been getting more young talent in, but developing that talent takes time and patience."

Dream Team watch – Daniel Pratt is rated a $330,100 defender in Toyota AFL Dream Team 2009.