Fremantle are breathing a huge sigh of relief after ruckman Sean Darcy was cleared of a serious knee injury.

Fears were high that Darcy may have suffered another posterior crucial ligament injury after seeming to hyper-extend his left knee in Saturday’s 12-point AFL loss to Brisbane.

But subsequent scans have cleared Darcy of any damage to his PCL or anterior cruciate ligament.

“There is some soft tissue damage to the back of the knee, which will require treatment,” Fremantle football operations manager Peter Bell said.

“But Sean is doing well and we expect him to be able to train relatively soon.”

A return date for Darcy hasn’t been set, but the 22-year-old will definitely miss Sunday’s clash with Port Adelaide at Metricon Stadium.

His absence means Rory Lobb will be forced to shoulder the bulk of the ruck load, while forward Jesse Hogan appears almost certain to earn a call-up.

Hogan, who suffered a serious foot injury in round 14 last season before taking a mental health break earlier this year, made a solid playing return in a scratch match on Saturday.

With Lobb to play as a ruckman against Port Adelaide, Hogan is set to team up with Matt Taberner up forward.

Defender Nathan Wilson (back spasms) is also set to return, but the Dockers might give Stephen Hill another scratch match to build up fitness and form following a series of quad injuries.

Young forward Sam Sturt could also be in the selection mix.

Fremantle put up a brave fight against the Lions, coming from 25 points down to close to within four points at the death.

It was a similar story in their season opener against Essendon, when the Dockers came from 28 points to almost snatch the win.

Port Adelaide will enter Sunday’s match in hot form after thrashing Adelaide by 75 points last week.