Isaac Heeney will be fit to take on Carlton on Saturday afternoon despite an ankle injury limiting his workload in recent weeks.

Heeney suffered the injury in Sydney’s final pre-season match against the Gold Coast, but went on to play the first two rounds of the season.

Sydney Swans Head of Football Charlie Gardiner said the young star will train this week.

“Isaac picked up an ankle injury in our last JLT game and has been managing that injury through our first two rounds,” Gardiner said.

“He pulled up a little bit sore from the weekend but I think he will get through training and he will play this week.”

Defender Nick Smith could make his first appearance of the season as early as next week as his recovery from a hamstring injury reaches its final stages.

“Nick has still been battling with a return from a hamstring injury and it has taken longer than we would have hoped,” Gardiner said.

“He seems to be getting close, he is doing some solid training at the moment.

“We are really hopeful he will play at some level in the next couple of weeks – and maybe even next week.”

Fellow defender Heath Grundy is continuing to manage his back injury after he missed last Friday night’s loss to Adelaide.

“Heath has a bit of a back complaint that he picked up in the JLT Series and we are just managing that,” Gardiner said.

“We are unsure whether he will be available for this week, but we are confident he will be back in the coming weeks.”

Meanwhile, Daniel Menzel is expected to return to football within the next fortnight as he continues to increase his training load after suffering an adductor strain.