THE SYDNEY Swans' 22-point win over Carlton may have come at a considerable cost amid fears veteran midfielder Jude Bolton has damaged his left anterior cruciate ligament.

Swans coach John Longmire said after Sunday's game the club would not know the extent of Bolton's injury until he had scans on Monday.

Asked whether Bolton had damaged his ACL, Longmire said: "I don't know yet. He just needs to have a scan before we can see what the result is. It's a bit hard at the moment to say what it is."

Bolton was unable to take any further part in Sunday's game after hyperextending his left knee at the 21-minute mark of the third quarter.

At the time, Bolton was hurriedly kicking a ball out of the Swans' defensive 50 when Carlton's Aaron Joseph came into to try and smother.

Joseph made minimal contact with Bolton but when the Swan planted his left foot it landed awkwardly and hyper-extended.

Shortly afterwards, AFL.com.au's Dr Peter Larkin tweeted that Bolton had significantly hyper-extended his left knee, with ACL damage being the main concern.

After regaining his feet, Bolton limped from the ground with the assistance of a trainer and was soon subbed out of the game.

He spent the rest of the match on the Swans' interchange bench icing his knee.

Earlier in the third quarter, Bolton had appeared to injure his right ankle when he accidentally kicked Carlton ruckman Matthew Kreuzer's shin.

Although Bolton had limped towards the interchange bench immediately after that incident, he had a change of heart before leaving the ground and played on.

Prior to Sunday's game, Bolton had missed just five games through injury in his 14-season career and had been on track to play his 300th game in round 22.

Meanwhile, Longmire said he was looking forward to the Swans' tough run home that will test the legitimacy of their current grip on top spot.

The Swans' win over Carlton put them a game and significant percentage clear of second-placed Adelaide and third-placed Collingwood - the Swans' lead them by more than 22 and 27 percentage points respectively.

But Longmire was mindful that they now face the Magpies (ANZ Stadium) next round, fourth-placed Hawthorn (SCG) in round 22 and in-form reigning premier Geelong (Skilled Stadium) in round 23.

In particular, the challenge of taking on the Magpies, who have beaten the Swans in their past 10 games, loomed large for Longmire.

"They've been a tough side to beat for us for a fair while now and we think we've improved a bit," Longmire said.

"We're really looking forward to that, getting in front of our home crowd and taking on one of the better teams in the competition.

"It's an important game to be able to play a team that's played in Grand Finals previously ... and a team that's in really good form and it's a good challenge for our group.

"We've come up short in the past and Collingwood have been just too good for us and that's our challenge ... to try and lift and see if we can improve enough to catch those really good teams, which Collingwood are one of."

Nick Bowen is a reporter for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: AFL_Nick.