Essendon forward Joe Daniher is set for at least four weeks on the sidelines after scans revealed early onset of osteitis pubis.

Daniher went for the scans on Monday after pulling up sore from the Bombers’ loss to Hawthorn on Saturday, but the issue has been ongoing according to Physical Performance Manager Justin Crow.

“Going right back at the very end of last season Joe had some groin pain,” Crow said on the SKINS Injury Update on Tuesday.

“We gave him some time off and rest for the off-season then a strengthening program and a progressive rehabilitation and build-up throughout the pre-season to the point where he was up and playing games at the start of the year.

“Unfortunately on the back of a compression incident against Fremantle (in round two) the condition has raised its head again.”

Crow said while Daniher has been able to take the field in the opening seven rounds of the season, the soreness has been holding the star forward back from full training.

“We’ve been monitoring it closely since then, managing Joe’s training workloads in conjunction with him and getting him to the point where he’s been able to play games.

“But in that sense it has been affecting his ability to complete all of his training.”

Daniher had a further setback against the Hawks, sending the club on a mission to find out the root cause of his soreness.

“In the second half against Hawthorn Joe felt heavy in his groins and that prompted us to follow up with a scan to see how his condition was progressing,” Crow said.

“It showed some signal in his pubis indicating early onset of osteitis pubis.”

Crow said the best option for the high-flying forward is to embark on a full and patient rehabilitation.

“With Joe’s long-term health and career being our biggest priority, in conjunction with Joe, we’ve made the decision to take him out of the program and give him a full rehabilitation to make sure that gets better.

“That will be a minimum of four weeks (on the sidelines), but we’ll be taking as long as required to make sure that Joe is fully recovered and available to play at his best.”