Young Bomber Jason Ashby out for two months

Essendon defender Jason Ashby has been ruled out for up to two months due to a dislocated kneecap.

Ashby, who has played 10 games in his short career, suffered the injury in a VFL practice match.

It is a further blow to Essendon's already depleted backline.

"Jason went down with a knee problem," Essendon high performance manager Justin Crow said.

"We had that scanned and it turns out he had a small patella dislocation, or kneecap dislocation.

"We're looking at a couple of months out with that but sometimes players do a little bit better so there is a bit of hope there for Jase."

Ashby played five games last season, but was expected to have a bigger role this season due to the one-year ban to 12 current Essendon players.