GEELONG youngster Lincoln McCarthy has suffered an injury setback that will see him wear a moonboot for a short period.

The good news for the Cats is that McCarthy’s injury is unrelated to the injury that saw him miss the entire 2013 season.

Geelong Cats head of sports medicine Peter Stanton said McCarthy was already three weeks into the rehabilitation for the injury.

“Lincoln developed some soreness pre-Christmas in his left foot. Subsequent tests confirmed a stress reaction in his navicular bone.” Stanton told geelongcats.com.au.

“Thankfully we were able to catch this sooner rather than later and as a result Lincoln is progressing well in his recovery.

“Despite being in the same foot as Lincoln’s previous injury, that injury was joint related and not associated with the hot spot.”

The Cats have not set a time frame on McCarthy’s return to full training.

After a year on the sidelines in 2013, McCarthy looked set to ignite his career at Geelong, playing the first two games of season 2014 against Adelaide and Brisbane.

But his progress was cut short with the forward sidelined for 12 weeks after injuring his back.

He returned via the VFL and earned a senior recall in round 23 against the Lions and also played in the Cats semi-final loss to North Melbourne.