YOUNG defender Tom McDonald is likely to miss the next two matches against Richmond and Fremantle, as he battles a shoulder problem. 

Elite performance manager Dave Misson said McDonald sustained the injury in the lead up to last Sunday’s loss against the Gold Coast Suns. McDonald, who was initially named in the side, was a late withdrawal and did not play.

“He just tweaked his shoulder in a training drill last Thursday,” Misson told melbournefc.com.au.

“We’re just going to get a little bit more advice and do another scan, but it’s probably going to be a two week [injury] I reckon.”

Misson said co-captain Jack Grimes (collarbone) and key forward Mitch Clark (foot) were progressing positively after their respective surgeries.

 “Mitch comes back from Perth tomorrow (Wednesday), so he’ll get back into his rehab and get out of his moon boot on the same day and do some off leg conditioning with a view to running in a couple of weeks,” he said.

“Grimesy is still in his sling and he sees his surgeon tomorrow (Wednesday), so we’re hoping that he’s going to come out of that sling later in the week, if not next week.

“The good thing with him is that once the shoulder’s got some mobility in it, he’ll be able to really undertake a full running program. So from a running point of view, when he comes back to play, he’s going to be in pretty good nick. It’s just the contact with his shoulder after those six weeks.

“It’s early days for those guys yet, but the initial signs are good and each of the surgeries went well, so we’re just working through the rehab phase.”

Misson said Mark Jamar (groin), Jack Watts (hamstring) were tracking well, but Jack Trengove (calf) would be monitored closely for Sunday’s clash against Richmond at the MCG.

“Jars (Jamar) will train today (Tuesday) and Wattsy did a really good rehab session yesterday (Monday) and will train on Thursday, so we expect them to be available,” he said.

“[Trengove’s calf injury] was just a little thing that flared at training last Tuesday and he didn’t quite get through the Thursday session. It’s not a lot, but it’s whether we hold him back for another week or not.

“He’s going to have another run today (Tuesday) and see how he goes, and we’ll make a decision after that.”

Rookie Nathan Stark was set to miss another week in the VFL, having overcome a groin injury.

“He’s actually not injured per se, but he’s had a couple of issues and we just feel that he needs a couple of weeks of training, before he plays, just to give him a decent run at it,” Misson said.

“He did a good session yesterday (Monday) and he’ll train with the group on Thursday and he won’t play this week, but we’re hoping he will play next week.”