COLLINGWOOD rookie Charlie Dean has been forced to put the start of his AFL career on hold after a suffering a foot injury.

The club has revealed that scans on Wednesday confirmed a fracture in a bone in his foot. The 20-year-old will see a specialist in coming days.

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"We will know more once Charlie has seen the specialist but we are expecting that his recovery will keep him out of the selection frame for a number of weeks," Collingwood football manager Graham Wright said.

The mature-age recruit had emerged as a genuine chance to step straight out of Williamstown and straight into Collingwood's round one team to face St Kilda next month.

Dean kept a unique streak alive when Collingwood selected him with pick No.2 in last November's NAB AFL Rookie Draft, becoming the 15th consecutive recipient of the Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal to graduate to an AFL list after winning the award given to the best young player in the VFL.

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Collingwood head of strategy and backline coach Justin Leppitsch said last month that Dean had made a strong impression on the football department since arriving at the club at the end of November. Dean had also put in an eyecatching performance during a February match simulation session.