IN-FORM Western Bulldogs midfielder Koby Stevens is in danger of missing the rest of the season after scans revealed he has a stress fracture in his foot.

Stevens is having a career-best season and it's expected he'll spend the next 6-8 weeks on the sidelines.

The 24-year-old was a late withdrawal from the side that lost to Geelong by eight points last Saturday.

“Koby turned up late last week, certainly showed some signs of foot soreness so we checked that over the weekend and he’s got a stress fracture in his heel bone, so he’s going to be out for six to eight weeks at least,” Bulldogs football manager Graham Lowe said.

The news comes just a week after the former Eagle was subbed out of the round 15 clash against Gold Coast with a bruised lung.

After spending the first two weeks of the season in the VFL, the Gippsland Power product has been an integral part of the Dogs' midfield division averaging 20 disposals and six tackles a game.

His hardness around the ball will be sorely missed as the Dogs have already lost fellow inside midfielders Tom Liberatore and Clay Smith to season-ending knee injuries.

In better news, key defender Joel Hamling is a chance to return from a back injury for Sunday's clash with Collingwood at Etihad Stadium.

“Joel has come in well at the beginning of this week, certainly we’ve seen some significant improvement and we feel like he’s turned the corner,” Lowe said.

“We’re going to develop and build his load across the week and we’ll test them off the back end of this week."

A return date for ruckman Will Minson remains a mystery after the 30-year-old missed the Geelong game with a shoulder complaint and then he wasn’t named on the club’s injury list that was published on Monday night.