Small forward Lachlan Murphy has avoided another serious ankle injury but will be tested at training before being made available for selection this week.

Murphy irritated his right ankle, which was operated on in May, and experienced some bone and joint pain in the third quarter before being subbed out of Saturday night’s win over Hawthorn.

He had an ultrasound and X-ray on Monday which cleared him of significant damage and he will attempt to train with the main group later this week.

Nick Murray has recovered well from concussion he suffered in the Round 18 loss to West Coast which saw him miss the win over the Hawks.

Murray is expected to be integrated back into contact training later this week ahead of Saturday’s clash against the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat.

“Nick has been subject to the AFL’s concussion protocols and progressed and met each milestone along the way,” Head of Football Adam Kelly said.

“He will be introduced to some contact training later in the week but all signs are that he will be available for selection.”

Patrick Parnell did not play in an organised scratch match in Melbourne on Sunday while nursing a sore AC Joint and will be tested this week.

“We decided not to play him in the practice game with the Geelong and Richmond players on the weekend, we’ll assess that as the week progresses and make a decision on whether he’ll be available for any match practice this weekend,” Kelly said.

Matt Crouch experienced some groin soreness after his return game in the SANFL a fortnight ago and with no SANFL fixture last weekend, the decision was made to consolidate his running loads rather than play in the scratch match.

Crouch, who had groin surgery in May, is expected to train with the main group this week and it is anticipated he will be in a position to increase his match minutes this weekend.

“We’ll look to reintegrate him into the main group this week before making a decision about what sort of minutes he will play and what that might look like if we can organise a practice match for this weekend,” Kelly said.

Injury list as of Tuesday, July 27:

Nick Murray (concussion protocol)
Lachlan Murphy (ankle) test
Patrick Parnell (AC Joint) test
Daniel Talia (foot) TBC
Luke Brown (Achilles) season
Wayne Milera (knee) season
Mitch Hinge (shoulder) season