It will be a quiet week on the training track for Nick Malceski, who will take advantage of the Sydney Swans’ week off after suffering a hamstring injury in Saturday’s qualifying final win over Fremantle.

The defender, who was cleared of any serious damage on Monday morning, is expected to rest up this week before joining team training early next week in the lead up to next Friday’s preliminary final.

Speaking to SwansTV for the HCF Injury Update, club physiotherapist Matt Cameron said the week off could not have come at a better time for the dashing defender.

“The scans showed that he really has just a minor injury to his hamstring muscle,” Cameron said.

“He’s got a bit of inflammation on the outside of the muscle, and not a lot inside, so that, on the spectrum of the injury, is really minor.

“It’s something similar to what Josh Kennedy had, and we’re expecting that in a week’s time it will virtually be fully recovered.

“We’re really hopeful that we’ll be able to run him and train him next week going into the prelim.”

The week off will also benefit the rest of the Swans squad, who will use the time to rest and recuperate after Saturday’s gruelling final against the Dockers.

Cameron said while the team will train Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, there will be plenty of time to recharge ahead of next week’s must-win final.

“It’s a great position to be in,” he said.

“What it allows us to do is make sure all the players are fully recovered from the game.

“That means we can make some decisions regarding those who have recovered well can train and those who have fallen a bit short, we can do something lighter with them.”

Cameron added that the time off would provide the likes of Josh Kennedy, Ben McGlynn and Craig Bird – who all missed matches towards the end of the home and away season – to ramp up their preparations in time for next Friday night’s final.

“As the week goes on we can put a little bit extra into some of the players who missed some game time, like Kennedy, McGlynn and Bird, and that allows us to adjust things to have the list ready for next week,” Cameron said.