MELBOURNE’S Tom Sparrow has been sidelined with an ankle injury.
Sparrow was subbed out of the Dees’ match against Gold Coast on Saturday, with the club’s High Performance Manager Selwyn Griffith providing an update on the Demon on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately for Tom he sustained that ankle injury and scans have confirmed that he does have a syndesmosis there,” Griffith said.
“We've organised follow-up scans and imaging and then, in consultation with surgeons, we will determine whether or not we go with a surgical intervention or conservative management.
“As we're progressing into the off-season, we want to give Tom the best possibility to maximise his off-season and be prepared for the start of the pre-season.”
Steven May has also been ruled out of Friday’s final match of the home-and-away season, with the club opting to give the defender further time to recover from a rib injury.
“He’s been working really hard to get himself right to play the back end of the season,” Griffith said.
“He trained fully today, but in a few contests, still didn't feel 100% comfortable.
“Unfortunately, he won't play this Friday night, but he's done a great job over the last few weeks, continuing to push himself to try to be available.
“Now we'll just ensure that he's right from a body perspective as we transition into the off-season.”
Clayton Oliver is recovering well from surgery on his hand, with Griffith hopeful that the midfielder would be ready to integrate into regular off-season conditioning.
“Now it’s about getting him integrated into the off-season, making sure that he makes a full recovery from the hand surgery,” Griffith said.
“We’ll progress him as per the rest of the playing group."
Caleb Windsor, who sustained a syndesmosis injury in Round 20, is eyeing a return to running with the aim to have an uninterrupted off-season program
“He’s progressed into running at the end of this week or the start of next week, which will allow him to integrate into the off-season unrestricted, which is a great result for Caleb.”
