St Kilda coach Alan Richardson has revealed that star-recruit Dan Hannebery will miss his second straight week of football while not carrying a particular injury.
Richardson revealed that while Hannebery will miss Saturday nights clash in Geelong, it will be due to soreness having returned to football and not a specific injury.
"He actually doesn’t have an injury,” Richardson said.
“He’s just pulled up really sore after a couple of weeks of AFL footy and it just made sense.
“We were hopeful it would only be the one week, but he’s still just been a little bit sore and a little bit ‘DOMSy’ (delayed onset muscle soreness) but we’re really confident that he’ll be right to go next week.”
The Saints have struggled with injuries in 2019 with both captain Jarryn Geary falling to a season-ending leg injury, while Dylan Roberton's year was ruled out before round one.
Add Hannebery's struggles to make the side and the Saints currently face an uphill battle as finals chances slip away.
Richardson's tenure with the Saints remains under building pressure as he looks to push for a finals birth, but remains hopeful for the remainder of his sides 2019 campaign.
Richardson remains with hope that four-time best and fairest Jack Steven could return from ongoing mental illness issues in the coming weeks, sidelining the tough onballer to just the four matches this year.
“His training the past few weeks is the training of a fella that’s loving his footy again, really enjoying being around his teammates and really enjoying being at the footy club,” Richardson said.
“I’ve become optimistic that we are a chance to see Jack and hopefully it’s soon.”
