POWER defender Jackson Trengove will not require surgery to his left ankle, but has sustained ligament damage that will require him to miss around six weeks of football.

That means he’ll be available to return after Port Adelaide’s Round 13 bye.

The news comes after the key backman was cleared of a fracture by X-rays taken after Sunday night’s loss to Richmond.

The subsequent MRI showed ligament damage within the ankle, but overall the news is better than initially feared, according to Power head of high performance Darren Burgess.

INJURIES: Round 8 update

“The MRI showed significant ligament damage for Jackson, which is clearly bad news and he’ll miss around six weeks because of that,” Burgess told portadelaidefc.com.au.

“That takes him, at this stage, to around Sydney/Collingwood [for a return].

“Fortunately it’s not as bad as we thought it could be on the night - with no fracture - but it’s still going to keep him out of action for several games.”