SAM BLEASE has suffered an early setback with an ankle injury forcing the speedster out for four to six weeks.

It's disappointing news for the Melbourne forward who took virtually three years to recover from a broken ankle suffered in 2009.

Blease hurt his left ankle when tackled early in Melbourne's first NAB Cup game but the club hoped initially he had escaped with a minor sprain.

However Melbourne football manager Josh Mahoney told AFL.com.au that scans on Monday revealed Blease had a high ankle sprain that would make him touch and go for round one.

"He's still a possibility. We'll just look at his program and see how much work he can do," Mahoney said.

"It's disappointing because he has had a very good pre-season and he has been able to build on his endurance base during the pre-season and we want to make sure he is able to maintain as much as he can during this lay-off."

Blease emerged to play 16 games in 2012 and showed enough to shape as an exciting prospect in 2013. He turned 22 last week and looks to have a bright future if he can build his fitness.

Defender James Frawley was forced to undergo plastic surgery to repair damage from a cut above his eyebrow after he clashed heads with Tiger forward Jack Riewoldt during a marking contest in the second game on Friday night.

"His cut was quite a significant laceration and he underwent plastic surgery on Saturday to fix the cut," Mahoney said.

Mahoney said Frawley was likely to be rested for Renmark anyway but would now miss round 2 of the NAB Cup definitely as the club was not prepared to risk him.