The Geelong forward has only managed 29 senior games since his 2012 debut and did not play any AFL matches in 2013 or '15.

McCarthy, 24, suffered his latest setback in Sunday's three-goal loss to Richmond at the MCG.

"(We are) pretty confident he has a relatively minor strain of his hamstring, so hopefully it'll just be a manner of weeks, two to three hopefully, maybe another week," coach Chris Scott told Fox Footy.

"In the context of his injury history it is not that significant, but it is really adding insult to injury.

"He's worked so hard to get back and was showing glimpses of what he could do, but he played one game, missed the next and then injured in his second game back.

"It's disappointing for him and us, we continue to talk about getting some continuity in our forward half and he's one of the keys to that."

Geelong have the bye and will hold a training camp on the Gold Coast over the weekend.

Australian Associated Press