GEELONG remains unsure when youngster Lincoln McCarthy will return to training after the 21-year-old injured his troublesome left foot before Christmas.
 
The forward returned to pre-season training wearing a moonboot on Monday, sparking fears he had suffered a recurrence of a break of the navicular bone in the same foot which saw McCarthy miss the entire 2013 season.
 
However, the Cats say this latest injury is unrelated and McCarthy is already three weeks into the rehabilitation for the injury.

"Lincoln developed some soreness pre-Christmas in his left foot," Geelong's head of sports medicine Peter Stanton told the club website.
 
"Subsequent tests confirmed a stress reaction in his navicular bone.

“Thankfully, we were able to catch this sooner rather than later and as a result Lincoln is progressing well in his recovery.

“Despite being in the same foot as Lincoln’s previous injury, that injury was joint related and not associated with the hot spot.”
 
After a year on the sidelines in 2013, McCarthy looked set to ignite his career at Geelong, playing the first two games of season 2014 against Adelaide and Brisbane.
 
But his progress was cut short with the forward sidelined for 12 weeks after injuring his back.
 
He returned via the VFL and earned a senior recall in round 23 against the Lions and also played in the Cats' semi-final loss to North Melbourne.