Dale Morris's AFL return has been put on hold, but Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is confident the veteran's knee soreness is no cause for alarm.
In better news for the Dogs, Beveridge revealed popular figure Liam Picken is nearing a return to the field after a career-threatening concussion when he spoke to reporters on Tuesday.
Morris played at VFL level for the first time this season at the weekend as he ramped up his comeback from a partial anterior cruciate ligament tear suffered in February.
While clearly not the ideal result, the Dogs don't believe the 35-year-old has suffered a re-occurrence of the injury.
"He's a little bit sore in the knee just medially which is a little bit different ... nothing major," Beveridge said.
"We were probably hoping that he would pull up a little bit better. But they only played two days ago and he's better today than he was yesterday.
"He didn't need it scanned, he didn't have an episode, it was just a bit of soreness which is a bit unusual.
"It's nothing really major to worry about at the moment, but ... if it's ongoing then I'm sure our docs will want to scan it at some point next week."
Morris won't be considered for Friday night's clash with Collingwood at Etihad Stadium but is still a chance to play in the VFL.
Highly-rated recruit Josh Schache kicked a bag of three goals at VFL level for the third week running and Beveridge said he is a chance to make his club debut against the Pies.
The coach had floated the prospect of Picken missing the rest of the season as he battled the ongoing effects of a pre-season concussion.
The premiership player struggled to even cope with loud music in the club's gym at certain stages, but is back in full training and closing on a return to the field after the Dogs' bye in three weeks.
"He's still getting some minor headaches and there's still some remnants from the concussion, but it's good signs," Beveridge said.
"It's good to have him back.
"It's really positive and when you consider how good he's been for us on the field, we've missed that. The allure of him coming back into the 22 is fantastic.
"Whether he can find his best again ... that's his next challenge, but everyone is pretty up and about."
Full-back Marcus Adams (ankle) also returned from a lengthy injury absence in Footscray's win over Werribee and pulled up well.
