Essendon captain Dyson Heppell has sustained a fracture to his ankle following an incident at training on Friday morning.

General manager of football Dan Richardson said the 28-year-old will be required to undergo surgery in the coming days. 

“Unfortunately, Dyson sustained the injury when tackled towards the end of our training session on Friday morning,” Richardson said. 

“It’s an unrelated injury to his foot, but we immediately had the area scanned which identified a fracture in the left ankle. 

“It’s very disappointing for both Dyson and the club. Currently, it is difficult to put a timeframe on a return prior to him having surgery, but we remain hopeful he will return to the field this season.”

Essendon will release its final team at 5pm AEST today for its round three clash against Melbourne.