Darcy Moore during the 2022 AFL Round 1 match between St Kilda and Collingwood (Photo by Cameron Grimes / Zero Digital Media)

Collingwood's Darcy Moore has avoided structural damage to his leg after hyperextending his knee during Saturday night's win over Gold Coast.

Moore was assisted off Metricon Stadium late into his side's five-point win over the Suns, with the Magpies left to nervously await on scans to decipher the extent of the setback.

While Moore is likely to endure a spell on the sidelines as his side pushes to cement a top eight finish, the All-Australian defender revealed via Instagram that he has avoided major damage to his knee.

The club have confirmed that Moore did suffer bone bruising in his left knee, but fortunately avoided tearing any ligaments.

"G’MORNING there is no structural damage to my knee which is a big #yeetyeet," Moore wrote in a post to his social channel.

"Thankyou to everyone for the messages of support, its is truly overwhelming and much appreciated also GO COLLINGWOOD."

While the news is sure to take plenty of stress off the shoulders of Magpies fans and senior coach Craig McRae, it is likely Moore could still miss some time with a less concerning setback, with the club set to assess their star man later in the week.

The Suns also came away with worrying injury concerns of their own after small defender Connor Budarick suffered a suspected ACL injury in the match.

The 21-year-old had his 2021 campaign curtailed after just two games due to a knee reconstruction, with Budarick likely to gave suffered the same setback against Collingwood.

Suns coach Stuart Dew revealed the club were fearing the worst for Budarick, who injured the same knee as last year.

"It doesn't look great for his knee," Dew said.

"We're not sure, obviously, but unfortunately for Connor it didn't look great.

"We feel for Connor because he's worked so hard, he's an important member of our side. He's young. He's got a big future ahead of him. He'll fight back. He's a fighter.

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"He's clearly a little bit emotional at the moment, and that's totally understandable."

Budarick's likely long-term injury adds further pain to Dew's young core, who are already missing Ben King (knee), Wil Powell (ankle), Lachie Weller (knee) and Joel Jeffrey (knee) for the rest of the year.

Forward Ben Ainsworth was also ruled out of the final minutes of the match after suffering a leg injury in the same marking contest that left Moore grimacing on the ground.

Ainsworth was seen in a moon boot after the match but was ruled out of any serious damage to his leg as the club took a conservative approach with his health.

The 24-year-old will be hopeful of playing in the Suns' upcoming clash with Richmond next Saturday as the club looks to keep their season alive.

Collingwood will have their eyes set on a seventh-straight victory in Round 17 when they host North Melbourne at the MCG in six days time.