Hawks defender Will Day is in the early stages of his rehab program, following successful ankle surgery late last week.

While a time frame for his return remains unclear, Physical Performance Manager Luke Boyd remains confident we’ll see Day back in action later this year.

“From a rehab perspective, (Will) will go into a boot for a period of time, and once he comes out of that we’ll look to start him running and building back up again.

“A fracture is never a great injury and having to have surgery is not ideal, but we do anticipate that Will will be able to play some football later in the year and that’s what we’re aiming for.

“When exactly that’ll be, we’ll be able to confirm in the next few weeks.”

Denver Grainger-Barras has progressed in his recovery after hyper-extending his knee last week, however the time frame around the young defender’s return also remains indefinite.

“That knee is starting to calm down, and he’s now able to get off the crutches and put some weight on it and walk around, which is a real positive step forward for him,” Boyd said.

“What he’s sustained in that injury is that the ligaments are structurally fine, but you sustain a little bit of damage to the tissue at the back of the knee, and you also get some bruising on the bone at the front.”

“These injuries can vary in how long they take to return, but what we do know is that Denver is really positive human and will rehab this really well.”

On a positive note, Keegan Brooksby is likely to play some game time in Box Hill’s practice match this weekend, having successfully completed his rehab from an ankle injury.

Watch the AIA Vitality Update below for more details around Hawthorn’s current injury list.

Hawthorn's current injury list:

Keegan Brooksby - ankle – test

Jack Gunston - back – 3 weeks

Denver Grainger-Barras - knee - indefinite

Will Day - ankle - indefinite

Seamus Mitchell - ankle - indefinite

James Sicily - ACL - indefinite