Dale Thomas set to miss two weeks after ankle scare at training

COLLINGWOOD will have its fingers crossed that two weeks of rest will help Dale Thomas overcome an ankle injury that he didn't even know he had.

COLLINGWOOD will have its fingers crossed that two weeks of rest will help Dale Thomas overcome an ankle injury that he didn't even know he had.

While Thomas has been ruled out of tomorrow night’s blockbuster game with Geelong and next week’s key clash with Sydney, the good news is surgery won't be needed.

On Nova radio this morning, Thomas said he didn't realise there was an issue with his ankle until he warmed up on Monday morning.

“I trained again Monday after the weekend," Thomas said. "(My) ankle was a little bit sore and trained a little bit on Monday and realised it was no good.

"I was kind of out there running around and it didn’t feel quite right but we were kind of going in straight lines and kind of warming up and it was feeling a little better and better.

"Had I had to do a bit of changes in direction stuff and that was where the problem was.”

Thomas had scans on his troublesome ankle after leaving the track during the week and said he was relieved to find out that he didn't have to go under the knife.

"The surgeon, it was better than what he could have said, he could have said we need to go cut it open," he said.

"At the minute hopefully it still just mends itself over the next couple of weeks and then I’m away. It’s kind of wait and see cause it’s a strange one."

The decision to rest him for matches and to cut back his training was made after he met with the specialist.

Collingwood director of football, Geoff Walsh, said it was hoped that in doing this, it would allow his ankle to settle.

“The medical opinion is that if Dale has his training scaled back, the load-bearing work reduced for a couple of weeks, then the ankle should settle and he will be able to resume full training,” Walsh said.

Thomas had an interrupted start to 2013 after having surgery on his ankle during the pre-season. He resumed in the VFL and has played the past five games in the AFL.

The injury blow comes on top of a season-ending injury to Alex Fasolo, who fractured the navicular bone in his foot earlier this week.

Thomas's injury scare tempered news that experienced midfielder Luke Ball will finally start his comeback on Saturday night.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley declared Ball ready to go with two VFL games to regain match conditioning after major knee surgery more than a year ago.

Luke Ball

He said not to expect the 193-game premiership onballer to be the answer to all of the Magpies' problems in his first AFL game since Round 3 last season.

"Bally has been sorely missed. He's a heart-and-soul-type player and his hardness in and around contests has an impact," Buckley said.

"You're looking for players to have an impact in every position basically and his commitment to his rehab and recovery has been fantastic. His couple of games at VFL level have been exceptional.

"But he's not going to come in and be the panacea. He's going to be part of the solution and we're looking forward to him finding his feet."

Best-and-fairest winner Dayne Beams, his season delayed by a thigh muscle injury, rejoined training at Olympic Park yesterday.

"Beamsy trained well today. Once again we have to hasten slowly there. That was his first football session for quite a while, so we need to get a couple of weeks of footy into him before we look to pull the trigger. He'll make us better when he gets back," Buckley said.

Positive steps from Ball and Beams helped offset the shock that young forward  Fasolo admitted last night he was still coming to terms with the foot fracture suffered at training this week that ended his season.

"It's absolutely shattering," Fasolo told The Club. "I can't actually get my head around it. It is a p---- of a thing, to be honest."

Given the spate of injuries, Buckley could not hide his frustration to lose defender Heath Shaw to a one-match suspension after an undisciplined act against serial agitator Hayden Ballantyne.