James Hird’s wretched run with injuries has continued after he was forced from the training track this afternoon with a strained left calf. The latest injury – which comes just two weeks after recovering from a hamstring injury – will sideline him for at least the next three weeks.

Hird, 33, has managed just seven of 13 games this season with soft tissue injuries plaguing the Essendon champion. Should he miss three weeks, he will return for Essendon’s Round 17 clash with Brisbane at the Telstra Dome.

The injury was sustained in the same calf muscle as the one that sidelined him earlier in the season. Hird was in the middle of a simple training drill, leading out to take a mark when he felt something grab and left the track immediately.