Justin Blumfield has escaped serious damage to his knee but could still miss the next two matches. Blumfield hobbled from Colonial Stadium shortly after half-time in last weekend's match against Geelong and medical staff were initially concerned he may have re-damaged the posterior cruciate ligament in his knee. Blumfield recently had arthroscopic surgery to repair the ligament and the match against Geelong was his first game back. However scans late yesterday revealed he had not re-damaged the ligament.

""The scans cleared him of any structural damage and it appears he has just jarred the knee joint,"" Essendon football manager Matthew Drain said. ""We will see how the knee settles down over the next few dyas. He will miss this weekend's game against the Kangaroos but we are hopeful he will have recovered in time to play against Port Adelaide.""

In other injury news, Bomber captain James Hird has fully recovered from a minor groin strain and will play against the Kangaroos at the MCG. Mark McVeigh will face a fitness test later this week to assess whether he has shaken a calf injury.