North Melbourne coach Brad Scott is upbeat Daniel Wells and Nick Dal Santo both avoided serious injury on Sunday.

Wells and Dal Santo failed to take part in the final quarter of Sunday’s AFL clash at Etihad Stadium, the only sour point to the Kangaroos’ 82-point thumping of Brisbane.

Wells was substituted off at halftime with some tightness in his leg, while Dal Santo played no further part in the game after limping off during the third quarter with a hamstring niggle.

Both midfield stars would be sorely missed if they weren’t fit for Saturday night’s clash with Port Adelaide.

Scott noted it was too early to make a definitive diagnosis, but added the club was “quietly confident with both”.

“With Wellsy it was precautionary at halftime because he was tight in that calf-achilles region and we’re a bit gun shy after Andrew Swallow’s achilles (injury in 2013).

“We made a really conservative call there. We hope he’ll be ok.”

Scott was optimistic Dal Santo’s setback was “hamstring tightness”, the same issue he dealt with following the side’s woeful 77-point loss to Adelaide in round one.

“He recovered really well from it, so we’re hopeful it’s just the same thing,” he said.

“He’s got a week to recover from this. We’ll make those assessments in the ensuing days.”

Jamie Macmillan was a late withdrawal due to a sore leg, while Scott Thompson rolled his ankle in the opening quarter.

Scott suggested both men would be fine for round three.

Meanwhile, Lions forward Michael Close will undergo scans to assess the severity of the knee injury he suffered in the first quarter on Sunday.