THE SYDNEY Swans are throwing their support around teammate Ben McGlynn and remain hopeful a hamstring injury hasn't ended the important utility's season.
 
McGlynn was the hard-luck story from Saturday's stirring qualifying final victory over Adelaide that catapulted the Swans straight into a home preliminary final on Friday week.
 
The midfielder/small forward couldn't hold back tears late in the match as the reality of the injury set in, before he was consoled by coach John Longmire at the final siren.
 
Late on Sunday, it was revealed McGlynn is facing a race against time to play again this year.
 
Scans revealed McGlynn suffered a minor strain of his right hamstring, with Swans doctor Nathan Gibbs predicting the injury would require two to three weeks' rehabilitation.  

"The scans showed Ben had only a little inflammation inside the muscle, which is a positive sign," he said.
 
 "We will work with Ben and hope to get him up and running again this season."
 
McGlynn had played 22 of a possible 23 games this year, kicking 29 goals, but could be a hard-luck story for the Swans even if they make it to the Grand Final.
 
"Really disappointing for Benny and we'll get around him, but in saying that, we're hoping he might get back," defender Nick Smith told reporters after Saturday's match against Adelaide.
 
"It's really unlucky, I guess all you can really do is try to get your body in good nick so you're less chance of hurting yourself.
 
"Once you do hurt yourself, you then have to do everything you can to get your body right, like I'm sure Benny's going to do."
 
Smith had his own hamstring scare recently, after scans showed hamstring tightness, which forced him to miss the round 23 clash with Geelong.
 
"I just struggled all that week with my hammy," Smith said.
 
"There was just a little bit of something with the scan, but nothing too bad.
 
"There was an increased likelihood of hurting it in the Geelong game, so we thought it was better to take precaution and not play."
 
McGlynn's injury was the only low point from an otherwise stellar day for the Swans at AAMI Stadium, limiting the home side to just five goals in an outstanding defensive display.
 
Outsiders going into the match, the Swans never doubted their capability of securing a victory that leaves them just one win from a Grand Final berth.
 
"We were pretty confident going over there knowing if we played our best footy, we were a good chance of winning," Smith said.
 
"We've set ourselves up in a home prelim. It's really exciting for the boys.
 
"I think it's perfect preparation that we played the other top four sides [leading into the finals] and got a real feel for how the finals would be.
 
"We'll get our preparation right and look forward to Friday in a couple of weeks."
 
Smith reserved special praise for co-captain Adam Goodes and Lewis Roberts-Thomson, who starred on his return to the backline, plus recalled forward Mitch Morton.
 
He also doesn't believe the Swans lose any home ground advantage by playing the preliminary final at ANZ Stadium, rather than their regular SCG home.
 
"I don't think so. We've travelled all around the country this year, Adelaide, Perth, Tassie, and won on all those grounds," he said.
 
"We're really looking forward to playing ANZ and having a massive crowd out there. Hopefully we get 70,000-plus, it'd be really good.
 
"It's definitely beneficial to the side when you've got a massive crowd there."