CDHBU forward Corey Smith not expected to return to round nine for the Power

Smith recently injured his knee against Murray Magpies in their round five encounter.

The in-form goal-sneak has been sorely missed the past fortnight with the Power struggling to find a reliable avenue to goal against Howlong and Osborne.

Smith travelled down to Melbourne last week to have scans and see his specialist.

"The diagnosis is a meniscus tear and a grade 1 MCL tear," Smith said.

"The specialist said it is usually a six week injury.

"I don't require any surgery, so fingers crossed I can be back after the general bye when we play Brock-Burrum in round nine.

"There wasn't much that caused the injury, I was just running back to stand on the mark and my knee collapsed on me a little bit.

"It happened in the first-half against the Magpies and I got it taped up and tried to play the rest of the match but pulled the pin at three-quarter-time.

"It blew up straight afterwards so I knew I had done some sort of damage."

Smith was back to his brilliant best in the early rounds after struggling for form last year.

He has booted 25 goals from five matches including a career high 12 goals against Culcairn in round two which coincided with his 100-match milestone with the Power.

Smith attributed improved fitness to his return to form.

"I did a lot more work over the pre-season this year and am in a lot better shape compared to last year," he said.

"The side was playing some decent footy early but we have copped a few injuries the past few weeks that we have struggled to cover.

"I don't think those hefty losses against both Howlong and Osborne over the past fortnight is a true reflection of where we are at as a side.

"Internally we know we are not that bad of a side and I think with a few of our senior players on the sidelines the opposition got under the skin of our younger players.

"They are still developing and need us more experienced blokes around them to protect them a bit better.

"But I think we will get a few players back this weekend against the Crows which is timely because there seems to be little between us whenever we play for whatever reason."

ALSO IN SPORT

Dual best and fairest and ruckman Cal Butler will be missing for the next two months after leaving for an overseas trip this week.

Smith said Butler's absence would be almost impossible to cover.

"It's going to be tough to cover Cal for the next eight weeks," he said.

"Watching Osborne play last week, they are going to take some stopping and look to be a slick outfit."

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