St Kilda say scans on Mitch Owens' injured shoulder are "promising", but he'll require further medical advice before a final determination is made on the seriousness of the injury.
The news wasn't so good for fellow forward Cooper Sharman, who will miss the start of the AFL season after scans showed he has fractured his thumb.
Owens became the fourth player this pre-season to be injured as a cause of being pushed in a marking contest during St Kilda's 44-point loss to Port Adelaide on Saturday.
The 21-year-old immediately went to the rooms nursing his left shoulder, and St Kilda gave a promising update on the injury on Sunday.
"Mitch's shoulder joint is stable, but his AC joint copped a knock in the incident," St Kilda's general manager of David Misson said in a statement.
"The scans this morning were promising, but we'll seek further advice from specialists to help assess the best course of action from here."
Sharman will require an operation on his fractured thumb.
"Cooper will undergo surgery in the coming days, and we'll assess his rehab window once that settles," Misson said.
In better news for the Saints, Rowan Marshall and Jack Sinclair completed a strong session on Saturday and will be back in full training this week, while Zak Jones and Hunter Clark made their successful returns from injury via a VFL practice game.
Star forward Max King is facing a race against time to be fit for the start of the season after undergoing minor knee surgery.
Paddy Dow's timeline to return is still unknown after he battled a knee infection over the summer break, which resulted in a three-week stint in hospital and three rounds of surgery.
Alix Tauru (back), Mattaes Phillipou (leg) and Dougal Howard (shoulder) are all around 7-10 weeks away from returning.
