CATS coach Chris Scott has expressed his disappointment for Lincoln McCarthy at his latest injury setback.

Scott said on AFL360 that while relatively minor, the injury is a frustrating one for the Cats forward.

"We’re pretty confident he has a relatively minor strain of his hamstring, so hopefully it'll just be a manner of weeks, two to three hopefully, maybe another week,” he said.  

“In the context of his injury history it is not that significant, but it is really adding insult to injury,”

“He has worked so hard to get back and was showing glimpses of what he can do. He played one game, missed the next and got injured in his second game back so it is disappointing for him and for us.”

McCarthy started strongly in his return to the AFL, kicking a goal in the first four minutes on the Gold Coast after 421 days without a game.

He gathered 14 disposals and kicked two goals and three behinds in the match before succumbing to a tight hamstring and becoming a late withdrawal the following week against Melbourne.

His latest setback against Richmond will mean the Cats will once again be forced to reset their forward line plans.

“We continue to talk about trying to get some continuity in our forward half and he is one of the keys to that so we’re just going to have to wait a little bit longer,” Scott said.