Rising Carlton forward Charlie Curnow is set to miss the start of the 2020 season.
The 22-year old had surgery on his right knee in November after fracturing his patella, the same knee that plagued his 2019 campaign.
He played just 11 games last year and failed to take his game to the next level as many Blues fans would have hoped.
Carton director of high performance Andrew Russel told Carlton Media that more updates would come in due course.
“With Charlie, we have a really good understanding of what his injury is,” Russell said.
“He won’t be available for the start of the season: we expected it to take a bit of time to recover.
“We’ll give everyone an update as he progresses.”
Curnow was at peace with knowing the timeline of his injury and managing it accordingly.
“I had a meeting with the surgeon and the knee is tracking along quite well,” Curnow told the club’s website.
“We’ve ruled out the start of the season, which is kind of nice to know. It means I don’t have to rush back.
“I can take my time to look after the knee and do all the right processes before I make my return to the field."
