The Melbourne Football Club will take a cautious approach with defender Colin Garland, after scans confirmed bone stress in the talus bone of his right ankle.

Garland will wear a protective boot over the next three weeks to rehabilitate the injury.

Garland spent the majority of the 2009 season successfully recovering from a stress fracture in his right navicular bone.  This, however, is an unrelated stress injury which the Club will continue to monitor on an ongoing basis.

General Manager of Football, Chris Connolly, said, “The injury has been detected early, and we are going to take a very cautious approach in dealing with it. We are confident that he will recover to be able to perform a critical mass of pre-season training in preparation for the 2010 season.”