Sydney will be without superstar Lance Franklin for up to a month because of bone bruising in his knee.

Franklin suffered his latest injury during the third quarter of Sydney’s first loss of the season.

The four-time Coleman medallist played on after his clash of legs with GWS defender Connor Idun at the SCG, but felt sore on Sunday and follow-up scans delivered some bad news.

Franklin had only just returned to full fitness after battling a series of soft-tissue injuries that restricted him to one AFL game in 21 months.

“He reckons it’ll be two (weeks on the sidelines). We’ve said three to four, so that probably gives you an idea of where the discussions go,” Swans coach John Longmire said.

“But we’ll see how he goes.

“He’s alright, I just had a chat with him.

“Unfortunately it was just a collision-type injury that you can’t do much about. That’s what happens, hopefully it’s only a few weeks and he gets back going again.

“You have to roll with the punches.”

Longmire has also confirmed that in-form ruckman Tom Hickey will be out of action for six to eight weeks because of his knee injury.