Young Western Bulldogs defender Daniel Pearce will be sidelined for at least eight weeks, after injuring the Medial Collateral Ligament in his knee on Friday.

Sustained during a VFL practice match at Victoria University Whitten Oval, Medical Services Manager Andrew McKenzie said the injury was an unfortunate blow for the 21-year-old.

“Unfortunately Daniel was caught in a clash that extended his knee and he has injured his MCL ligament that required a repair over the weekend,” McKenzie said.

“The surgery went well and we expect he will be out for two to three months.”

View the Western Bulldogs' complete injury list ahead of round two's match against North Melbourne.

Fellow defender Sam Darley will also spend time watching from the stands with abdominal pain, unrelated to football.

“Sam Darley had some abdominal pain which was unrelated to any training or games,” he said.

“He was referred off to see a specialist who has put him on a course of treatment and has recommended three weeks recovery.”

The Bulldogs captain Ryan Griffen is one step closer to playing his first game of the season on Sunday, completing yesterday’s training session with no complaints.

“Ryan has been progressing really well, he had a big session on Tuesday which he has coped with very well and has pulled up well today,” he said.

“We expect him to be into training tomorrow and we will assess him after tomorrow’s session.”

Meanwhile, Jarrad Grant is making gains in his rehabilitation program, with an eye to escalate his training load if given the all clear from the specialist early next week.

“Jarrad has been working really hard, he’s been progressing well with his injury but at this stage the next point of call is a review with the surgeon next week on Monday – we hope that will be really positive,” he said.

“From there we will be able to progress his running outside, we think he is on track to build up and we will take it from there.”