Sydney superstar Lance Franklin will undergo finger surgery during the AFL club’s Christmas break but is expected to return to training with his teammates in early January.

Franklin rejoined the Swans a fortnight ago after missing this year’s finals series to undergo treatment for an ongoing mental illness and has been hampered by a bone spur on his right hand.

“It is bothering him with marking and tackling work that he’s been doing this pre-season,” said the Swans’ physiotherapist Matt Cameron.

“There’s a little bone spur irritating the nerve and the tendon isn’t quite working properly.

“He’ll go in for an operation this week to tidy it up. We’ve timed it so he’ll be right by January.”

Franklin joins a lengthy casualty list at the club in the lead up to the Christmas break.

Other notable inclusions are Kieren Jack (knee) and Sam Reid (hamstring), who are still on modified programs after season-ending injuries, while Jarrad McVeigh has been unable to run at all for the past three months after undergoing knee cartilage surgery.

“Jarrad has been training inside and on the bike a fair bit,” Cameron said.

“But he gets a Christmas present and will start running then so you’ll start seeing him out there in January.”

Recruit Michael Talia has also undergone finger surgery after suffering a dislocation in a training mishap, with Ben McGlynn (calf) and Isaac Heeney (knee) also on modified programs.

Luckless defender Alex Johnson underwent his fourth knee reconstruction in November but has since suffered complications with an infection, with the club yet to announce what course of action they will take.