CARLTON forward Mitch McGovern has escaped serious injury to his hamstring.

McGovern came from the ground and was withdrawn early in the second half in the narrow Round 3 loss to Sydney.

Director of High Performance Andrew Russell said that McGovern was removed due to the potential risk of further damage.

“Mitch McGovern didn’t end up having any damage in his hamstring, which is great. He had an issue with his hip during the week,” Russell said.

“His hip shut down and his hamstring got tight.

“We were concerned he might do major damage to it, and he was as well. We made the decision to pull him out of the game.

“He’ll be a test to play this week.”

Ed from the boundary line, or Gov over his head?



Who has your vote for the goal of the week? #BoundByBlue — Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) April 7, 2019

With the key forward hopeful of making the trip to Metricon Stadium this Sunday, McGovern could soon be joined by another big target inside 50.

While saying he was an “outside chance” to play this week, Russell said Charlie Curnow was making strong progress from his bruised knee.

“Charlie’s knee is settling down really well,” he said.

“We probably think he’ll miss another week at this stage, but we’ll see how he progresses doing the week.”

Russell also expected ruckman Andrew Phillips to be available: he was a late change from the Swans clash due to a corked quad.

For Russell’s full comments, watch the video above.