Port Adelaide's injured dynamo Chad Wingard could be out for the next month as his AFL club fights for a finals spot.
Scans on Wingard's left ankle have revealed a bad sprain.
"Chad had scans on Monday which confirmed a high ankle sprain so he will miss somewhere between two and four weeks in rehab," Port's head physio Tim McGrath said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We will take a no-risk approach with his injury so will assess him week-to-week before he starts running again."
Wingard's stint on the sidelines starts with Port's crunch game against St Kilda at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
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The fifth-placed Power are among three clubs with 10 wins but a further four clubs, including the Saints, lurk just one win behind.
"It's super-important," Port defender Tom Jonas told reporters on Tuesday.
"Obviously the race for finals is so tight that anymore slip-ups could cost us greatly.
"Fortunately we have been a team that has been able to bounce back so I'm backing the boys in to get it done."
Jonas said Port was having trouble dealing with AFL expectations, after losing fourth spot after last week's defeat to Melbourne.
The 26-year-old backman said Port players failed a challenge of beating the Demons to bank three consecutive wins for the first time in two years.
"We were unable to rise to that challenge," Jonas said.
"It's something that is mental that we're working on.
"It obviously has an effect, I can't tell you to what extent.
"We haven't been able to deal with that expectation so far.
"It's being able to execute what we talk about about over and over again, regardless of who we're playing and how many we have won in a row."
