Carlton have pushed back Chris Judd’s AFL comeback by a fortnight.
The two-time Brownlow Medallist was scheduled to return in round three from last month’s Achilles tendon surgery.
But the Blues announced this week that Judd was taking longer than expected to mend.
Judd, 30, is out of contract at the end of this season, leading to ongoing speculation about whether he will keep playing next year.
“I wouldn’t call it a setback, but certainly (he has been) a little slower to recover than we would have liked,” Carlton football director Andrew McKay said on the club’s website.
“So we’ve decided to take the pressure off Chris and just push that start date back to round five.
“(It is) just to give him a little bit more time to recover and certainly get fit before he makes an assault on the season.”
As recently as 11 days ago, Carlton said Judd was on track to return in the round-three clash with arch-rivals Essendon.
The Blues also announced that fellow onballer Andrew Carrazzo is back at full training after recovering from a calf muscle injury.