CARLTON spearhead Harry McKay will miss the next six weeks after tearing the lateral meniscus in his knee.
McKay felt soreness in his knee after Sunday night's victory over Adelaide and underwent scans that confirmed the damage, with the club determining he will need to undergo surgery to repair the injury.
The setback is a huge blow for the 6-2 Blues, who have soared into the top-four off the back of McKay's 20 goals so far this season.
"This news is obviously unfortunate for Harry, given the really strong start to the season he was having both personally and as a leader for our side," Blues head of football Brad Lloyd said.
"Harry will have the surgery tomorrow morning, he’s the ultimate professional so will attack his rehab to be in a position to make an impact when he returns to the side, which at this stage we expect to be around three weeks after the bye."
McKay has established himself as one of the game's most dominant key forwards over the last 18 months, winning his first ever Coleman Medal as the League's leading goalkicker last season after a 58-goal campaign.
He had started to form a lethal partnership with Charlie Curnow, himself returning from a series of long-term knee injuries, with the pair combining for 45 goals from the first eight weeks of the season.
Elsewhere, the Blues expect defender Liam Stocker (shoulder) and midfielder George Hewett (calf) to face fitness tests later this week to determine their availability for Sunday's trip to face Greater Western Sydney.
MEDICAL ROOM Check out the full injury list
However, rookie defender Luke Parks is expected to be sidelined for the next three months after further investigations determined he had suffered a bone stress injury in his foot.
