A broken thumb will most likely sideline North Melbourne captain Brent Harvey for Sunday's must-win AFL clash against the Western Bulldogs.

It emerged on Tuesday that the Kangaroos' match record holder had suffered the injury in Sunday's disastrous 117-point loss to Collingwood.

The Kangaroos said Harvey will not need surgery but admits he is in doubt for the must-win game.

It is understood the half-forward will not be ready in time.

The injury is an untimely setback in a horror week for the Kangaroos, who suffered a major blow to their top-eight credentials with their embarrassing performance against the Magpies.

"(He) sustained the injury during an attempted tackle in the third quarter at the MCG," the Kangaroos said in a statement.

"Scans have revealed a bone fragment has been dislodged from his left thumb.

"Surgery will not be required at this stage.

"Harvey's progress will be monitored throughout the week."

The 33-year-old, a hugely-popular figure at Aegis Park, broke the club games' record this season.

The four-time All Australian has played 316 matches for North since his 1996 debut.

Harvey only had 12 possessions and kicked two goals in Sunday's rout.

It was the second time this season Kangaroos figures had spoken pre-match about the need to take it up to the Magpies, only to offer very little resistance.

The Kangaroos fell to 12th, a game and a half outside the top eight.

By contrast, the Bulldogs have won their past four games to resurrect their season and are ninth, half a game behind Essendon.

Not surprisingly, North coach Brad Scott vented his frustration during the Monday match review.

"He (Scott) certainly put it on a few blokes who didn't do the things that he asked during the game," said Kangaroos' forward Drew Petrie.

"His tone of voice did go up a little bit in yesterday's meeting which is what footy coaches do and players need to respond when that happens.

"Match review did go through a little longer than usual.

"We had a lot to look at to understand why we got beaten so badly."

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