North Melbourne defender Charlie Comben faces 2-3 weeks on the sidelines after suffering a shoulder injury in Sunday's win over West Coast in Bunbury.

Comben, who has starred for the Kangaroos as an intercepting defender this season, was substituted in the third quarter against the Eagles after copping a knee high in his shoulder during a marking contest.

Scans revealed a small crack in his shoulder blade, but in good news for the defender, no surgery will be required.

"The inhibition around his strength and movement is more due to bleeding from the surrounding muscles due to the trauma (of the injury)," North Melbourne head of performance Kevin White said.

"The main aim is to have that recover (to) enable him to regain his strength and function in the coming weeks."

Veteran defender Aidan Corr will miss 3-4 weeks after injuring his calf in training last week.

Corr, who missed Sunday's match, suffered a moderate calf strain.

"His symptoms are improving each day and he is currently getting some good strength loading in during this early phase," White said.

"He will look to run at the weekend and build strength and running loads across the following week."

Jackson Archer is well positioned to return to action in Saturday's VFL game against Port Melbourne at Arden St. 

Archer, who has been sidelined since injuring his left hamstring in North Melbourne's Round 8 fixture against Essendon, will train fully this week with the reserves squad back at Arden St. 

If he gets through those sessions, he will play three quarters of Saturday's VFL game, White said.

Youngster Josh Goater's recovery timeline is 4-5 weeks after he suffered a setback in his return from quad/hamstring issues last week. 

White said Goater had "bounced back really well" from the minor quad issue.

"He had a strong week of conditioning and skill work and is attacking his rehab with great energy," White said. 

"The plan will be to look for a strong fortnight of controlled footy conditioning to then prepare to merge into group training. 

"He has a lot of kilometres under his belt, and has made significant strength improvements in the gym. He just needs continuity (across) the next month to set him up for game preparations."

Miller Bergman (knee) and Darcy Tucker (back) are progressing well in the early phases of their recoveries, White said, and are bringing plenty of energy to the playing group around the club.

Injury List

Player	Injury	Estimated Return
21. Callum Coleman-Jones	Calf	2 weeks
4. Aidan Corr	Calf	4-6 weeks
13. Charlie Spargo	Shoulder	Late February
34. Jackson Archer	Knee	Season

21. Callum Coleman-Jones

Injury: Calf

Est. Return: 2 weeks

4. Aidan Corr

Injury: Calf

Est. Return: 4-6 weeks

13. Charlie Spargo

Injury: Shoulder

Est. Return: Late February

34. Jackson Archer

Injury: Knee

Est. Return: Season

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