Melbourne’s Clint Bartram will miss eight weeks of football after arthroscopic surgery confirmed he has a complicated meniscus tear within his knee.

After initially injuring his knee in a training mishap before Melbourne’s Round Two clash with Hawthorn, Bartram was disappointed with the news. “It was a bit of a shock to be out for that long, but I’ve had the surgery so I just need to concentrate on the rehab and getting my knee back to 100 percent fitness.”

Forward Russell Robertson also underwent surgery over the weekend, and confirmed that he has a small crack in the bone of his knee. At this stage, he is still looking at a six-week lay-off from football.

In other injury news, midfielder Brock McLean’s foot injury is progressing well, and he could be back in action with the Demons in three weeks’ time.