SCANS have confirmed that Melbourne defender Christian Salem has avoided major ligament damage to his knee but is in need of surgery.
Salem was substituted out of the Demons' round one clash against the Western Bulldogs on Wednesday night following a tackle with Marcus Bontempelli in the opening term (watch the incident in the player above).
After the Salem underwent further assessment, Melbourne's football performance boss Alan Richardson said the club was thankful it was not a serious ligament injury.
"Thankfully, Christian did not sustain a ligament injury on Wednesday night and has instead chipped cartilage in his knee," Richardson said.
"He will undergo surgery today to clean up the damage to his cartilage and following the procedure, will commence rehab with our medical team.
"At the moment we don't have a specific timeframe for when Christian will return, but we will know more post-op."
