Essendon star, Mark McVeigh, has suffered a training set-back cracking a bone in a 'third toe'.

Football operations manager, Paul Hamilton, said McVeigh's injury occurred this week when he landed awkwardly after going for a mark in a training drill.

He will spend the next four weeks on light duties - and will need to wear a moon boot for a period - before resuming running.

""We expect he will be fully fit and available for the NAB Cup,"" Hamilton said.

“This is a small set-back which is unfortunate for him because he had been training very well.

""We expect he will make a full recovery over the next month or so and be back to his best soon.""