Sydney Swans forward Lance Franklin will miss this weekend’s Sydney Derby as he continues to recover from a torn back muscle, but coach John Longmire is hopeful he will return for next Sunday’s match against St Kilda.

Some associated bleeding from the back muscle injury which spread to his abdominal area, along with some rib cartilage damage, has caused the key forward to miss the last two matches.

“Lance ran again today and has been building up his work all week,” Swans coach John Longmire said.

“He did some light skills today but we felt he hadn’t done enough to return this week.

“We will increase his training load heading into the game against St Kilda next Sunday and hope he will be available for that game.“