DEFENDER Joel Macdonald is in doubt for Friday night’s clash against Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium.

Macdonald aggravated his knee during Melbourne’s 27-point win over Richmond at the MCG on Saturday and was subbed out of the match. He was replaced by Cale Morton.

Coach Dean Bailey was remaining optimistic the in-form Macdonald would take his place in round 15.

“I’m not sure about Joel. Before the game he was feeling a bit crook in his knee and we put him through a test and there was a little bit of swelling there, but not much,” he said.

“It just felt a little bit awkward for him, but he went and played and when we had the opportunity to sub, we subbed him.

“So he’s walking around OK, but we’ll have to wait the next 24 hours with him. But hopefully, he’ll be OK.”

Meanwhile, Bailey was pleased with the return of ruckman Mark Jamar against the Tigers. Jamar missed six rounds with a knee injury.

“As the game wore on, Russian started to get into the game a little bit more. Some of his ruck work in the second half was better than the first half,” he said.

“His tap work was good. Having him forward, he took that contested mark and that was good for us.

“He’s got that first game out of the way, so he’ll be happy to get it out of the way and [have another] week of training. So he’ll only get better from now on.

“He’ll be better second up I reckon.”