Midfielder Abbie Ballard has been cleared of serious damage to her knee after she sustained an injury in Adelaide’s win over St Kilda on Friday night.

Ballard hurt her right knee in a tackle in the second quarter and did not return to the field after half-time.

“Abbie is fine, her knee was stable last week but she did hurt it in a tackle, so we took a no-risk approach,” Head of Women’s Football Phil Harper said. 

“The doctors were confident that she hadn’t re-done her ACL, and she hasn’t, her ACL is well and truly intact.

“She’s got a bit of soreness and fluid on the knee from that crash so they’ve taken that fluid out, she will probably be right to play in a week’s time, but we will reassess it next week.”

Teah Charlton and Hannah Munyard will also miss Wednesday’s match against Melbourne while managing adductor and foot injuries. 

“Teah has been carrying some adductor soreness and we thought it best for her not continue to carry that and give her a few days off, so we know she can be right for Sunday’s game,” Harper said.

“Hannah is similar, she’s been carrying a sore foot, and it got a little bit worse towards the end of the game on Friday so if we had a seven or 10 day break, she’d probably be fine but we thought it best to leave her out this week.”

Forward Brooke Tonon missed last week’s against the Saints, after injuring her ankle at training but will be named as an emergency for the clash against the Demons.

“Brooke had hurt her ankle at training last week, but it’s come up alright, it would have been helpful for her to have a few more days so we’ve named her as an emergency,” Harper said.

“If she needs to play, she will, but a few more days to get her 100% right is the way to go with Brooke this week.”

Injury List

(As of Tuesday, October 8)

Abbie Ballard (knee) 1 week

Teah Charlton (adductor) 1 week

Hannah Munyard (foot) 1 week

Najwa Allen (hamstring) 1-2 weeks

Brooke Smith (collarbone) 7-9 weeks

Eloise Jones (Achilles) season