Dynamic Collingwood forward Jamie Elliott cannot put a date on his return from his latest hamstring setback, but says it is unlikely to be before the Magpies' bye in three weeks.

But Elliott said the injury was not a recurrence of the series of hamstring strains that caused him to miss all of last season.

"It's obviously frustrating, but it's a different part of the hamstring, which is reassuring," he said.

"It's not the same spot I was having all the failures in last year.

"This is just a typical hamstring that I'm told runners do because of the extension of the leg. I didn't do it in a ballistic episode. I think it's just a mechanical thing. I'm not really too worried about it."