Carlton have suffered a second serious AFL pre-season injury blow with talented youngster Jarrod Pickett rupturing the patella tendon in his right knee.
Pickett will undergo surgery on Friday and faces a lengthy rehabilitation after copping the injury in a training collision on Thursday - the last session before the Christmas-New Year break.
Carlton have already been forced to rule co-captain Sam Docherty out of the 2019 season after he suffered his second anterior cruciate ligament tear in 12 months in November.
Traded to Carlton from GWS at the end of 2016, Pickett showed his ability in 17 games for the Blues in 2017 but missed much of the 2018 season with a broken wrist.
"Our whole club feels for Jarrod, who has worked so hard to get himself back into our AFL program over the last month," said Carlton's head of football Brad Lloyd.
