You can’t keep a good small man down . . .

Feisty Tiger, Jake King, may be facing a lengthy stint on the sidelines after damaging the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during last Saturday night’s clash with Collingwood at the MCG, but he’s not about to wallow in self-pity.

“We had a slight little hiccup in the first quarter against Collingwood,” was King’s typically understated response when quizzed on ‘Roar Vision’ about how the injury occurred.

“I went for a marking contest back with the flight of the ball and collided with one of the Magpie players and got a slight injury to the knee.

“We had a scan done and I’ve got a slight tear to the PCL and a little bit of a cartilage tear to the back of the knee.”

When asked how long he was likely to be out of action for, King replied:  “They’re predicting six (weeks), but, you know, miracles happen . . . We’ll just have to train in rehab., work pretty hard, and try and get back out there as quick as we can.”

It’s a frustrating setback for the 28-year-old veteran of 76 league games, who missed the opening round match against Carlton due to suspension.

“It’s a long pre-season, and to miss Round 1 is very disappointing.  To get back out there, I was all excited.  But then, 10 minutes in, to do your knee and know that it’s gone, is not the best feeling in the world,” he said.

“It got to about halfway through the third quarter, it had cooled down a bit too much, and I just wasn’t able to go on anymore.”

The challenge for King now is to cope with watching the Tigers from the sidelines while he progresses through his rehab.

“We all know that I’m not very good at actually sitting there watching,” he said.

“It’s going to be difficult, it’s going to be challenging, but, you know, worse things could happen.

“Now I just have to channel my energy and put it into other places . . . to get amongst the boys and help them out as best you can.”

To hear from Jake King, click play above