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NORTH Melbourne midfielder Leigh Adams has sustained only minor damage to his left shoulder and could play against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday, football manager Donald McDonald says.

Adams's latest shoulder mishap - following problems in the previous two games with his right shoulder, the one that was subjected to a "chicken wing" tackle by Carlton skipper Chris Judd in round 16 - happened in the third quarter of his side's 54-point win over Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The 24-year-old's left shoulder was reconstructed last year, which heightened concerns he would require another long layoff.

After the game, Kangaroos coach Brad Scott said a serious injury to Adams would be 'devastating' for the finals aspirant.

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However, a relieved McDonald told SEN on Monday morning that initial scans had cleared Adams of any major damage.

"It's not really clear but the good thing is it’s not as serious as what we first thought, so it's not as major as requiring a reconstruction," McDonald said.

"There's a little bit of damage there, but it mightn't even be enough for him to miss this week.

"It's a bit like the previous week where he stirred it up with a little bit of an incident (on his right shoulder), and I think it's a similar scenario this week.

"It's his good (shoulder). With shoulders, sometimes they take a while to really heal.

"It was just the way he landed, so hopefully he's just damaged a bit of scar tissue and with the right type of physio he might come up. But we're just going to wait and see how he tracks throughout the week."

North defender Scott McMahon will also be watched carefully throughout the week after being subbed off against Melbourne with an adductor injury.

“We’re also hopeful that Scott will be right to go this week,” McDonald told kangaroos.com.au.

“It’s only a minor injury that we feel we can get on top of and again, we didn’t want to take any risks so we subbed him out for Matty Campbell.”

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