Carlton Blues injury crisis deepens with Harry McKay set for surgery

“While a minor procedure isn’t ideal for Harry, it gives him the best opportunity to return to play in the back end of the season,” Carlton general manager of football Brad Lloyd said.

In his post-match press conference on Sunday Voss said the Carlton selection panel would be combing through the club’s VFL side for likely replacements for O’Keeffe and possibly Curnow.

“We’ll find out who is able to come in and fill the void on that,” Voss said.

“But we do need that presence forward of the ball. If nothing else, we need a second ruck.”

On Sunday, Mitch McGovern, Lachie Fogarty and Zac Williams kicked eight of Carlton’s 12 goals in Perth.

Voss said Curnow had wanted to return to the field during their 34-point win against the Eagles, but they kept him off as a precaution.

The 6-7 Blues will tackle the Kangaroos off a six-day break and the red-eye return flight from Perth, before a five-day break into a Thursday night clash against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.

In other injury news, Collingwood will assess Pat Lipinski (concussion) and Brayden Maynard (plantar fascia) for their availability for Saturday night’s match-up against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium. The Magpies said Jordan De Goey (Achilles) is looking to return to skills-based training across the next two weeks.

St Kilda are expected to be without Max King for an extended period after the key forward complained of knee soreness during training last week.

King has not played a game for the Saints this season.

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.