North captain Andrew Swallow is confident his broken thumb will not keep him out for an extended period of time.

The 27-year-old had surgery on Monday after scans revealed he had fractured his right thumb in last Friday night’s clash against Essendon.

Swallow said he is only expecting to miss this Saturday night’s clash against Fremantle.

"Ideally it’ll just be the one week," Swallow told NMFC.com.au on Tuesday.

"It depends on how it [the thumb] pulls up, and as long as it doesn’t swell up too much and it’s not too painful, I should be able to get out there next weekend."

PRESS PLAY above to watch the Swallow interview | YouTube

Swallow said he received a knock to his hand in the second quarter against the Bombers and applied ice at half-time to reduce the swelling.

Shortly after the main break, he received another knock but managed to play out the game, finishing with 19 possessions.

"At the start of third quarter – (in) the first minute or so – someone handballed the ball over the top, (I) went to grab it (and my) thumb gave way," Swallow said.

"It looks a lot worse than what it is. Even today, I’m up and about walking around and it’s feeling pretty good."

RELATED: Round 8 Injury Update

The 171-gamer said he was confident he would not require surgery, so it came as a surprise when scans confirmed the fracture.

"We thought it’d be fine to play with and keep going, so I was a bit shocked in the end to find out … that I was booked into hospital (for) surgery," he said.

"The bone was just on a bit of an angle it shouldn’t have been, so (they) straightened it out, (inserted a) plate on there and a couple of pins, and hopefully (I) should be right to go in a week or two."