CARLTON defender Zac Williams has been ruled out of the 2023 season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.

Williams suffered the injury during training yesterday.

He has since undergone scans, which confirmed the ACL injury, and will have surgery in the coming week, before commencing his rehabilitation.

“These incidents are so unfortunate and we are all feeling for Zac, he could not have done any more this pre-season to get himself ready for the year,” Carlton Head of Football Brad Lloyd said.

“He will undergo surgery to repair his ACL and from there, we will put a rehabilitation program in place for him over the next 12 months.

“He has had more than his fair share of bad luck with injury Zac but in that time he has built up a lot of resilience, which he will no doubt tap into, as we all support him on his road to recovery from here.”

Forward Sam Philp also underwent surgery at the start of this week after experiencing a stress fracture to the second metatarsal in his foot.

A more definitive timeline for his recovery will be determined at a later date.

“We are all really disappointed for Sam, given how hard he has worked to get his body right over the last 18 months,” Lloyd said.

“He has faced some significant challenges during that time, and while this latest one is frustrating, we’ll continue to make sure as a club we are with Sam every step of the way.

“Given the nature of his injury, we will get a more definitive picture on Sam’s recovery timeline at a later date.”