Just days after Melbourne breathed a sigh of relief when Max Gawn returned to the track without a knee brace, the Dees have been brought back down to earth.

Gawn’s ruck backup Braydon Preuss has been ruled out for two months - and possibly more - after knee surgery.

Preuss tore his meniscus towards the end of Monday’s training session.

“Braydon landed awkwardly on his right knee, with scans revealing that he has sustained a medial meniscus tear,” Dees footy boss Josh Mahoney told the Melbourne website.

“Braydon underwent surgery to his right knee on Tuesday afternoon. We felt this was the best course of action to prevent any further issues moving forward.

“At this stage we expect Braydon to be unavailable for eight to 10 weeks.”

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Gawn strained his left knee while training on the Sunshine Coast two weeks ago.

Back in Melbourne, the All Australian was back jogging and said this week he was relieved the injury was to his ‘good’ knee - not the right leg that has recovered from two ACLs.

“If it was my right leg, I wouldn’t have been as talkative and wouldn’t be here right now,” Gawn said.

“It’s my left knee ... I am much happier now.”

Key tall adds to Bombers’ woes

Essendon’s hopes of getting their AFL premiership campaign off to a flying start have received a fresh blow, with Tom Bellchambers the latest key player to suffer a pre-season setback.

The ruckman had an arthroscopic clean-out performed on his left knee last week and will be on a modified program for at least the next fortnight.

The 30-year-old joins key Bombers such as captain Dyson Heppell (foot), Orazio Fantasia (hip), Joe Daniher (groin), Michael Hurley (shoulder), Cale Hooker (hip) and David Zaharakis (ankle) who have been slowed by injury this pre-season.

Andrew Phillips could play in round one after Tom Bellchambers’ injury. Credit: Chris Hyde/AFL Photos / Getty Images

“Yes, a few of our bigger names have had interrupted pre-seasons, but I think there are a lot of other guys that can step up and fill the void,” Essendon midfielder Andrew McGrath told reporters on Tuesday.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a concern ... every team has their injury problems. We’ve had a few well-documented ones but I think every team’s going through a similar thing.

“I think all our boys are coming sort of good at the right time which is nice. A lot more of them are out on the track and they’re all progressing really well.”

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- with AAP