Melbourne star Steven May looks to have suffered another rib injury after being substituted out of Friday night's match against the Western Bulldogs just before half time.
May left the field clutching at his rib area in what looked to be a reoccurrence of a similar injury he sustained against Hawthorn in Round 2, when he was involved in a marking contest with Hawks forward Mabior Chol.
The Larrakia man missed just one week after that incident, but he will be sent away for scans to determine the extent of Friday night's injury.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said after the match that he will be 'crossing his fingers' that everything is okay.
"He's got some ribs (hurt), so we'll get that looked at," Goodwin told media.
"Obviously getting him assessed, we'll just have a good look at where that sits, but obviously go away and get precautionary scans, check everything and make sure everything is right.
"Obviously he had those ribs earlier in the year and managed to come back, so we'll just have to have a really good look at that."
It was a disappointing night for the 2021 premiers, who were defeated by the Bulldogs 15.20 (110) to 9.5 (59) at Marvel Stadium.
It was a major blow for the Demons' finals aspiration, who now sit in 12th position on the ladder and eight points out of the top-eight.
"The start was incredibly disappointing, to be on the back foot like that," Goodwin said.
"They dominated us around the ball and were able to score way too easily, I'm incredibly frustrated with how we started the game."
Bulldogs forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan was again potent up forward despite a wayward night in front of goals.
The 22-year-old finished with 2.6 from 16 disposals and took a game-high four contested marks as he continued his purple patch of form.
Liam Jones was reliable in defence for the Bulldogs, while Kysaiah Pickett contributed two goals up forward for the Demons.
In the other Friday night fixture, a starring performance from Tim Kelly delivered West Coast its fourth win of the season.
Kelly collected a game-high 31 disposals and eight clearances as the Eagles 15.7 (97) defeated the Gold Coast Suns 13.9 (87) in a thrilling contest at Marvel Stadium.
20-year-old Tyrell Dewar had his best game of his young career finished with nine disposals and two goals – both coming during important stages of the third quarter.
