Collingwood have suffered an early AFL pre-season blow with star forward Jamie Elliott to undergo ankle surgery.
The 25-year-old played with a sore left ankle in the latter stages of last season, but doctors felt the problem would clear up with rest.
However, Elliott - having had scans on Friday after training - will undergo surgery, keeping him from full training until the new year.
"The recommendation, post-season, was that with a spell from the rigours of playing and training, the ankle would heal," Pies football chief Geoff Walsh said.
"Unfortunately, the healing process has been slower than expected and surgery is now appropriate.
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"We're expecting to have Jamie back into the full training program by late January."
Elliott played 17 games and kicked 34 goals last season after missing all of 2016 with a career-threatening back injury that required surgery.
The club's two-time leading goalkicker returned to pre-season training this week earlier than expected.
He had been slated to meet coach Nathan Buckley and the leadership group on his return on November 20 to discuss his recent arrest.
Elliott was fined $634 for being drunk in a public place and urinating in a bin early on a Sunday morning in north Melbourne after a day at the races at Flemington.
