LUCKLESS Geelong youngster Lincoln McCarthy faces another pre-season ruined by injury as he continues a slow recovery from a serious foot problem.

McCarthy, who failed to play a match this season after pre-season surgery, is unlikely to return to full training until after Christmas, dogged by issues involving the notorious navicular bone in his left foot.

“He’ll be building up right through the pre-season, but he’s a fair way off rejoining the main group,” Geelong football manager Steve Hocking said.

“After the work he’s had done, I’ll very surprised if he’s back with the group before Christmas.”

The 21-year-old livewire had surgery seven months ago after the cartilage lining the joint showed significant deterioration.

His injury was so unusual some of the country’s leading foot specialists had rarely encountered the problem before.

While he remains contracted for next season, the Cats are confident out-of-contract Daniel Menzel will soon sign a new deal after he made a successful comeback to senior football this year.

But Hocking admitted “we’re still working through that”.

“Not sure when we’ll get there, but it shouldn’t be too far away. We’re still not there at this point in time,” Hocking said.

“I would have thought in the next couple of weeks we’d like to have that locked away — we’ve also got longer than that.”

Asked if there was any risk of Menzel leaving the club, Hocking said: “No”.

Geelong will soon unveil its new VFL coach, a position likely to be filled by someone already in the club’s coaching panel after Paul Hood moved into a player development role.

The Cats are also determining whether they require a replacement for assistant coach Dale Amos, who departed the club this month.

“That will be revealed over the coming weeks,” Hocking said.

“We’re just working through it at the moment. Simon (Lloyd) was a really critical appointment (as director of coaching) and clearly we’re moving in a direction where we’re just developing our people further.

“Whether we bring in one, two, three, four people, that’s something we’re still working through.”

Hocking said two-time Geelong premiership player Darren Milburn, who has quit Adelaide after four seasons as an assistant coach, was not on the Cats’ radar “at this point in time”.