The Crows are confident captain Nathan van Berlo will return to the field this season following surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles Tendon.

Van Berlo, 27, suffered a ruptured right Achilles Tendon during a freak incident at training on Max Basheer Reserve on Monday.  

Van Berlo will be in an immobilising device for a minimum of two months before progressing to low-impact, weight-bearing exercises. Adelaide Football Club doctor, Dr Andrew Potter, said he expected the hard-working midfielder to return to full football training in approximately six months.

“If Nathan progresses well, this season is certainly achievable. I wouldn’t put a line through this year at all – definitely not,” Dr Potter said on Tuesday.

“We would hope Nathan would be playing footy by August, but it’s very fluid. We’re in the very early stages. It depends how he goes in the next week (post-surgery) and how he progresses with his strength after that.

“The most important thing is to go slow and make sure he gets good strength and healing, so that we don’t get a re-rupture.”

The injury occurred in the warm-up as the players were doing speed work with weighted sleds.

The Club is still exploring exactly how the incident occurred, but van Berlo was struck in the back of the leg with a sled. Dr Potter said van Berlo had been the unwitting victim of an unfortunate accident.

“The Club is still looking into exactly how it actually happened. They (the weighted sleds) are often used here, widely across the AFL and in many sports … the players pull them behind them (as resistance in speed drills). For some reason, Nathan was struck on the back of the heel by one of those yesterday,” he said.

“Initially, we thought Nathan just had a small cut in the back of his heel … but at the surgical exploration, unfortunately, it was found to be completely ruptured.”

North Melbourne skipper Andrew Swallow is currently recovering from a ruptured Achilles, while two-time Hawthorn premiership star Jarryd Roughead made a successful return from a similar injury in 2012.

Dr Potter said van Berlo was feeling positive about the road to recovery ahead.

“Nathan is pretty good. Initially, it was quite painful, obviously, and a shock for him to be suddenly hit from behind, but he was in good spirits. He’s a level-headed chap and he’ll do really well in his rehabilitation,” he said.

“To my knowledge, it’s the first Achilles rupture we’ve had here, but lots of high-profile sportspeople have had them and there’s plenty of experience of how to deal with those and rehab people back to where they want to be.

“If you look at the sportspeople around the world, who have done Achilles injuries, like Kobe Bryant and David Beckham they’ve all played a pretty good level when they’ve come back. The important thing is not to rush it.”