Collingwood injury crisis: Ben Reid has surgery, set to miss another month

COLLINGWOOD’S defence has copped another injury blow, with key man Ben Reid facing at least another month on the sidelines after having surgery on both knees on Monday.

Ben Reid will miss another month after having surgery on both knees. Picture: AAP

COLLINGWOOD’S defence has copped another injury blow, with key man Ben Reid facing at least another month on the sidelines after having surgery on both knees on Monday.

Reid, who hasn’t played for the Pies since Round 10, is battling knee and calf issues and general manager of football Geoff Walsh said the club decided on surgery in the hope it would fix his issues.

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Ben Reid will miss another month after having surgery on both knees. Picture: AAP

“Ben Reid, (the) news (is) not so good,” Walsh said on the Pies website.

“He’s been struggling with his knees and calf the last few weeks.

“We’ve decided to change tack a little bit there, he had a scrape on both knees under surgery Monday and we’d expect that that will fix the problem.

“It’s probably a four-week job before he can then get back into contention for full training and selection.”

Reid’s continued absence compounds the season-ending injury to fellow defender Lynden Dunn, who had surgery to repair his ACL on Tuesday.

If Reid returns in Round 20, it would leave the 29-year-old with just a month to break back into a side that is currently sitting second on the ladder, among the premiership fancies.

In better news for the Pies, both Darcy Moore and Josh Smith are available for selection in the VFL, while Jamie Elliott and Jarryd Blair are only a week away.

Darcy Moore should play in the VFL this week and the Pies will hope they can fast-track him back into the senior side, given their injury woes. Picture: Getty Images

“The hamstring boys, there’s a mixed bag there,” Walsh said.

“Jamie Elliott is only seven days behind (Moore and Smith), so he’ll be available this time next week, which is good news and Blairy, we’re hoping for next week as well, given that this will be the third game that Jarryd misses, so that’s ... a bit of bright sky for us.”

Elliott is yet to play a game this season, but his goalkicking prowess would boost the Pies’ already potent attacking arsenal heading into the finals.

Levi Greenwood missed the Pies’ win over the Gold Coast with concussion, but Walsh said he would be available to take on the Bombers, provided he passes concussion testing.

He said both James Aish and Alex Fasolo had made “strong progress” on their respective knee and ankle injuries and could be in line for a recall as soon as Round 17.

Adam Treloar, Kayle Kirby, Tim Broomhead, Tyson Goldsack and Daniel Wells all continue to recover form long term injuries.

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