With 20 seconds remaining in the Swans reserves match on Sunday, first year player Tom Mitchell feared the worst.

After coming out of a contest awkwardly, Mitchell was told that the foot injury he sustained could be a break, which would essentially end his season.

But things improved for the teenager the following day, when initial scans on his injured foot showed no sign of a break.

While Mitchell isn’t completely out of the woods yet, the 19-year-old told sydneyswans.com.au the initial results were a huge relief.

“The good news is that the first scan I’ve had on it has shown it’s not broken, which is good,” he said.

“I’m pretty happy with the result because I was already starting to look towards pre-season for next year, but now I’ve got another opportunity to hopefully play a few more games this year and I’m just going to keep trying to improve.”

Injury has already interrupted the Swans father/son draft pick’s first season at the club, with knee tendonitis inhibiting Mitchell’s start to the season.

The midfielder, who returned to the field in May, has since worked his way into playing full match time and doesn’t want his latest injury to slow him down too much.

“With the help of the development coaches I’ve been able to work on the areas where I needed improvement,” he said.

“I think my form improved with the more games I played, so hopefully I can continue that with more game time.

“On the weekend was the most time I’d played and was almost a full game, so hopefully if I can get up again soon I can play a few more games and get up and going.”

Mitchell still has aspirations to push towards a place in the senior side, but admits that might be a challenge at this stage of the season.

“The seniors are going really well at the moment and whatever they’re doing it’s working very well, which is a good thing,” he said.

“You never know what can happen and a chance could come my way later in the year.

“I’ve just got to focus on doing the things I need to improve on in the reserves and we’ll see what happens.”

In the meantime, Mitchell said he is happy to do his bit for the Swans reserves upon return, with the side sitting in second place on the NEAFL Eastern Conference table.

“I think when we’re at our best and we’re all playing together as a team we can match it with the best,” Mitchell said of the reserves’ season.

“There are still a few weeks to go in the season but if we can put a few good games together and build some good form then I think we can make a good run in the finals.”