North Melbourne forward Lachie Hansen has been cleared of a serious back injury, but remains in doubt for Saturday's AFL clash with Geelong.

Hansen was taken to hospital on Saturday night after a head-on collision with the Etihad Stadium fence during the final quarter of the Kangaroos' big win over Port Adelaide.

He hyper-extended his back and there were concerns of major damage when he was stretchered off, but x-rays have cleared him of back fractures.

Scans on Sunday showed he did not escape completely unscathed though.

"There's a bit of muscle damage and ligament tears, but that's probably a good result in the end," Hansen told the club's website.

The forward said he felt "a bit of a crack" at the time, which scared him.

"When I got to the hospital, I got the good news that it wasn't any fractures or anything and I felt a lot better after that," he said.

"I was actually in the hospital getting my scans and (a replay) came on and I was like `Oh, I don't want to watch it,' but I watched it and it didn't look that good, but I'm just happy that it's nothing too serious.

Hansen was hopeful he would miss one game at most, and has not ruled out playing against the Cats, although he said he was in pain and struggled to walk on Sunday morning.

Kangaroos football manager Donald McDonald said Hansen would be assessed during the week, before a decision was made on whether he could play on Saturday.

But he said even if he missed a week or two of football, the medical results were very positive, given the initial concerns.

Young Kangaroos midfielder Jack Ziebell was subbed off with calf soreness on Saturday, but he pulled up well on Sunday and is not expected to miss the Cats clash.

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