Melbourne defenders Steven May and Jake Lever escape long lay-offs

Melbourne will breathe a sigh of relief after vital key defensive pair Steven May and Jake Lever both avoided lengthy injury setbacks.

May will miss this week’s match against Port Adelaide and will be reassessed ahead of the Demons’ gather round clash against the Crows after he broke two ribs and suffered a small spinal fracture in a second-quarter collision with Hawthorn’s Mabior Chol on Saturday.

Lever followed May to the bench shortly after when he injured his knee in the MCG clash but was cleared of any significant structural damage.

Melbourne football boss Alan Richardson said the Demons were “optimistic” Lever would be fit to face the Power on Saturday night.

“Pleasingly, Jake has been cleared of major injury to his right knee. He instead looks to have irritated a joint under his kneecap,” Richardson said.

“Steven was obviously in a lot of pain following that heavy contact in the second quarter of Saturday’s game, so we sent him off to hospital for some scans,” Richardson said.

“The results of these showed two fractures to his ribs and a small transverse process fracture.

“At this stage, Steven will miss this week’s match against Port Adelaide. We will continue to monitor his pain and function following that in the lead-up to our round 4 game.”

Melbourne was able to swing premiership defender Harrison Petty behind the ball and use sub Marty Hore to cover for May and Lever in the second half of the Hawks’ clash, with the pair joining Tom McDonald in the key defensive roles.

Hore could fill May’s spot against the Power, or coach Simon Goodwin could turn back to Adam Tomlinson for more height after the tall defender was omitted following the opening round defeat to Sydney.

Tomlinson, 30, had 25 disposals and six marks in the VFL as Casey lost to Box Hill by 41 points on Sunday.