Deledio, whose absence due to an achilles injury has left a huge hole in the Richmond side, has not been able to train – besides some striding – as a result of a sore achilles.

Richmond football operations manager Dan Richardson said on Tuesday that Deledio was ‘‘two or three weeks away’’ from resuming.

Richardson said Deledio’s return was anticipated ‘‘possibly the week before the bye’’. Thus, Deledio will miss this Thursday’s game against the Lions at the Gabba and almost certainly the following the week’s game against the Hawks.

‘‘He’s still limited ... he’s not training. He’s doing some strides, but not training. It’s achilles. It’s straight achilles tendonitis. So you’ve got to give it time to settle down.’’

Richardson said there was no need for Deledio to have surgery to repair the achilles. ‘‘No, no, not at this stage,’’ he said. ‘‘So yeah, give it time, how long it settles – sometimes you don’t know how long they take to settle.’’

Deledio has missed the past two games, in which the Tigers have been beaten by the Bulldogs by two points and then comprehensively dispatched by Collingwood, with the Magpies placing an aggressive tag on Richmond’s other midfield playmaker, Trent Cotchin, in the knowledge that there was no Deledio to deal with.

Deledio’s value was underscored by the past two losses and, in particular the Collingwood game, given the contentious methods used by tagger Brent Macaffer, whom Cotchin said ‘‘got away with a lot’’.

With Deledio to miss on Thursday night, the major selection quandary for the Tigers surrounded Tyrone Vickery, who barely touched the ball and was subbed out last Friday night but is fit to play against the depleted Lions; it is just a question of whether he is selected. Shaun Grigg is another player who performed poorly against the Pies.

But the Tigers, as coach Damien Hardwick noted, are also mindful that Vickery has booted eight goals in his four games this season. He has not been playing as a support ruckman, with Ben Griffiths filling that second ruck/forward role.

Deledio said on Sunday that he had been running. “I have been running the last couple of days but I have to make sure I can pull up all right and get some strength work into it,’’ he told Channel Seven.

“I haven’t got a lot of spring and can’t explode off the mark. It is a little tendon which runs down past your Achilles which is causing me grief but I am strengthening it and touch wood I will be back out there sooner rather than later. I am not going to be out for two months.’’