CARLTON forward Charlie Curnow will miss the remainder of the 2019 season with a knee injury.

The 21-year-old had been making progress in return from a medial ligament injury sustained during the Blues’ Round 15 clash with Fremantle, but suffered further set backs following bone bruising.

Director of High Performance Andrew Russell explained the decision to sideline the young Blue for the remainder of the 2019 campaign.

“[With] Charlie’s knee, initially we were really pleased with how it handled straight-line running,” Russell said.

“Since last week, we’ve taken him off straight line and done a little bit of agility work with him and he’s had increased pain and awareness in his knee.

“This is to do with the bone bruising in his knee, which he had at the same time as he had his medial ligament injury.”

Increased pain has limited Curnow’s recovery as Carlton heads into the final five rounds of the season.

With a return only possible for the final round of the season, the decision has been made that the star forward will miss the remainder of the season.

“He’ll probably only have maybe one or two games at the end of the season that he possibly could play,” he said.

“That’s no certainty, so what we’ve decided to do is actually take Charlie out for the whole season and make sure that he’s 100 per cent fit for the start of pre-season training.”