Wingard ankle to rule him out for four games

PORT Adelaide says midfielder Chad Wingard’s class cannot be replaced — but the Power will have to minimise the loss for the next month.

Wingard’s worst fears were confirmed yesterday with a specialist judging the All-Australian’s left ankle injury as requiring as long as a month on the sidelines.

Scans revealed a “high sprain”, suffered in the third term of the 23-point loss to Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday.

This puts him out of Saturday’s home clash with St Kilda and the derby against the top-ranked Adelaide on Sunday week.

If the injury lingers, as expected, to four weeks, Wingard also will miss the clash with Collingwood in Round 21 and Western Bulldogs at Ballarat.

Power head physiotherapist Tim McGrath is not ready to declare when Wingard will be able to return to drills.

“Chad had scans on Monday, which confirmed a high ankle sprain, so he’ll miss somewhere between two and four weeks in rehab,” McGrath said.

“We’ll take a no-risk approach with his injury, so will assess him week-toweek before he starts running again.”

His absence against the Saints sets up the recall of specialist forward Aaron Young, who had 33 possessions in the SANFL match against Glenelg on Sunday.

The need to spread Wingard’s work — both as a midfielder and forward — also brings Karl Amon and Brendon Ah Chee back into the discussion at selection tomorrow.