COLLINGWOOD has confirmed Luke Ball will miss the rest of the 2012 season due to a knee injury.

Magpies football manager Geoff Walsh has told Melbourne radio Triple M scans taken on Saturday revealed Ball would require a knee reconstruction after he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against Carlton on Friday night.

"Unfortunately the scan is showing he's ruptured his ACL," a clearly shattered Walsh said.

"He will undergo surgery at some stage early in the week. It's a terrible blow for both Luke and ourselves, obviously."

Click here to listen to Nick Maxwell's post match interview on CTV.

Ball will almost certainly miss the rest of the 2012 season after Walsh all but ruled out using LARS surgery.

"At this stage I think it will be the traditional reconstruction."

Ball left the field early with a knee injury before returning and lasting only 17 minutes before the ACL injury.

Walsh denied Ball was forced by the club to return to the field after Ben Reid was subbed off with injury.

"There was no pressure [to go back on] and, like always, there was no immediate call by our staff until they have a chance to assess it.

"There was no changing of mind or forced to go back on because of another players' injury."

However, he could not say if returning to the field after the initial injury had led to the ACL rupture.

"It's safe to assume that he wouldn't have gone back on or he wouldn't have been allowed to go back on if there was any issue or any inkling that the injury had already occurred or that it was going to be something that was going to put him at greater risk than normal," Walsh said.

Meanwhile, Reid will miss 'two to three weeks' with a quad injury.