Carlton forward Brad Fisher is the latest player to undergo the revolutionary LARS knee surgery and expects to return to football within 12 weeks.

Fisher suffered a partial tear of his right ACL in last Saturday night's NAB Cup loss to Sydney and underwent the ligament augmentation and reconstruction system (LARS) surgery on Wednesday.

LARS involves using a ligament made of industrial strength polyester fibres to augment the torn natural ligament and has been used successfully on Swans defender Nick Malceski.

After speaking to Malceski and Carlton's medical team, the 25-year-old decided to go ahead with the procedure.

"Obviously this is positive news for Brad and the club as it will see him return before the second half of the season," Carlton general manager of football operations, Stephen Icke said.

"We underwent a thorough investigation as to the best treatment for this injury understanding that the LARS surgery is not always the most appropriate and are pleased that it was for Brad's injury."

In other injury news, Sydney midfielder Craig Bird has suffered a stress fracture to his foot and will be sidelined for approximately 10-12 weeks.

Bird doesn't require surgery but he won't be able to resume running for approximately six weeks.

The injury had built up over time and tests this week revealed the problem.

"Whilst this is obviously not ideal, we know Craig will be back sometime in the front half of the season," coach Paul Roos said.

"Craig has had a great pre-season prior to this injury which makes this particularly disappointing for him and the club.

Bird himself, who played 15 games last season before sustaining a shoulder injury late in the year, is trying to remain upbeat.

"I am disappointed to have done the whole pre-season and get an injury at this point, but I just have to stay positive," he said.

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