TIME is running out for Collingwood's Dale Thomas to get back to the senior side this year, with his VFL mishap the latest in a string of issues with his ankle injury.
The 26-year-old had four kicks in his VFL return on Saturday before a knock to his right ankle sent him from the field in the second quarter.
He ended the day on crutches and has had scans.
Leading sports medico Dr Peter Larkins believes the scans will be looking for the extent of bleeding and inflammation at the site of the operation he had in May.
But he says the fact his ankle swelled upon contact is a sign it's not entirely recovered from more than 12 months of problems.
"I think that was a bad indicator that his ankle hasn't really settled down enough and it would be really surprising if he was able to play this coming week," Larkins told AFL.com.au.
"I would have thought that would be a bad sign for him returning.
"The tissue around the repair was pretty inflamed and sore, so that was a bad sign because you wouldn't expect just a simple knock on the ankle to put you on crutches."
Thomas had surgery in November last year to repair ligaments he injured in round 15.
He then needed further work in May to repair torn tendons on the outside of the ankle, which Larkins said were a "consequence of the ligament damage" from the original injury.
"It's a long complicated story when you look back at it," he said.
"It's a ligament injury followed by failure of conservative rehabilitation followed by a ligament repair followed by recurring soreness followed by a tendon repair, and now soreness again.
"At the end of the season he probably needed surgery then, but he decided not to, so he went through all of October, came back to training and the ankle was still no good in November.
"When you put all that together, you can't really sense in two weeks' time, he's suddenly going to be fantastic."
Collingwood's VFL side has one game left this week before finals and is sixth on the ladder, a game inside the eight.
Larkins said the setback and his lack of game time at the weekend significantly cut down his chances of returning.
"If he doesn't get a game in the next two weeks, I would have thought his chances of playing again this year are zero," he said.
"The issue is to see how he goes this week and if he's capable of playing. If he was best on the ground in round 23 in the VFL, I suppose the door stays open."
