Charlie Curnow's horror injury run has continued with the Carlton forward set to undergo surgery on Wednesday after suffering further damage to his troublesome right knee.
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The 23-year-old sustained a stress injury to his right patella last week while working through his rehabilitation program.
It is the same knee that has troubled Curnow for the past two seasons, keeping him out of action since June last year.
"Charlie's patella has been complicated by this current stress injury," Carlton head of football Brad Lloyd said.
"However, whilst he has been able to continue with his rehabilitation program, his specialist orthopaedic surgeon feels that surgery to reinforce the area of bone stress will hasten his return to training and minimise the risk of further injury.
"We're fully supportive of this approach and will continue to support Charlie through his recovery process."
Curnow emerged as one of the AFL's brightest young talents after making his debut in 2016 but a string of knee issues have halted his progress in recent times.
The 192cm forward was sidelined by a medial complaint in the final third of the 2019 season.
He then dislocated his knee while playing basketball, fractured his kneecap in a separate incident and later suffered a hairline stress response during his rehabilitation.
The Blues are still hopeful Curnow, who has kicked 77 goals in 58 games to date, will return to be one of the key figures in their planned climb back into finals contention next season.
Australian Associated Press
