COLLINGWOOD'S livewire forward Lachie Schultz will be missing from the Magpies' line-up for an extended period after suffering a syndesmosis injury in Friday night’s four-point thriller against North Melbourne.

Schultz limped from the ground in the second term after rolling his ankle in a contest and took no further part in the game.

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“Syndesmosis is the early call, which back in the day used to be a really scary word,” Collingwood coach Craig McRae confirmed in his post-match press conference.

“Apparently our high-performance team says it's not as scary as it once was, but we'll have to get scans to work through that.”

Another concern for the Magpies coach will be the tackle applied by veteran Jack Crisp in the second term on Kangaroos defender Tom Blamires that left the Roo concussed.

“I haven't seen it,” McRae said.

“If he's tackled him and he's been concussed, obviously there's something to answer for, so I'll have to have a look at that, but that’d be disappointing.

“I thought Jack had a great game. Critical moments. You know he kicked that goal, his shrugging tackles, setting up others.

“So he'll be a big loss and he hasn't missed a game for so long, he'll be shattered."

The 32-year-old hasn’t missed a game since 2014 and holds the record for the most consecutive matches with 279. 

For North Melbourne coach Alistair Clarkson, he rued his side’s inability to make the most of its opportunities.

“Live and learn, you know, big stage, great that we played Friday night footy against a big opponent, but yeah, disappointed that we just didn't have the polish to be able to put enough scoreboard pressure and allow Collingwood backing in the game.”

Clarkson defended his skipper Nick Larkey who has been struggling with accuracy in front of goal in recent matches.

The key forward kicked three goals and four behinds, hitting the post more than once, proving consequential in the game that was decided by less than a goal.

“He's (Larkey) had 10 or 11 marks for the game and kicked three goals four. He got the radar working after the first 20 minutes of the game, thank goodness," Clarkson said.

“It'll come for him. He's been a potent goal-kicker for a long period of time. I'm pleased he squared it up a little bit after the start of the game.”

“I think all our players would be disappointed. I'm disappointed too. Our fans would be disappointed. It was a game that was there for the taking.

“Chances late in the game, we just didn't have the composure to connect or take that goal that we needed just to compose the game.”