Essendon have suffered a major early setback, with the club expecting Andrew Welsh to miss a significant chunk of the AFL season after injuring his ankle in an intra-club game.

Coach Matthew Knights said it was suspected Welsh had both fractured and dislocated the ankle, meaning a long stint on the sidelines.

"It could potentially be a three or four-month injury, there's no question about that," he said.

"We've got to face that reality, I'm a coach who likes to look at the facts and I'm certainly not holding my breath that he's going to be back in four weeks, we'll just see what evolves."

A four-month lay-off would put the 25-year-old out until round 11.

Welsh was stretchered off and taken immediately to hospital after going down in a marking contest in the third quarter of Friday's intra-club match at Whitten Oval.

The running defender/tagger, who has played 134 AFL games, has developed into a key player for the Bombers, finishing in the top 10 in the club's best and fairest the past two seasons.

With the Bombers having been decimated by injuries last season, Knights said it was tough to lose an experienced player so early this year, particularly as he is one of just seven 100-gamers on their list.

"It's one of those fate collision injuries, it's nothing to do with how he's prepared or how many minutes he's played, it's part of the competitive nature of this great game of ours," Knights said.

"Culturally we love the competition and we love the body contests but at times the result of that is an injury like this.

"As a coach for me if I was putting myself in Andrew's shoes, which you've got to in this situation, the enormous work he's put in to present himself in the condition he has and to be a leader at the club, that's what you really feel for."

Earlier, new recruit Hayden Skipworth was helped from the ground after copping a knock to the head, but was not believed to have suffered a significant injury.

In brighter news, injury-prone key forward prospect Scott Gumbleton and speedy midfielder Jason Winderlich, coming off a serious back injury, both performed solidly.

Rookie-listed ruckman Christian Bock also showed promise, while the club's No.1 ruckman David Hille showed no ill effects after being stung by a stingray last month.

"We did get some positives out of today even though Andrew Welsh is the huge dampener on our day," Knights said.

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