WNBL: Canberra Capitals star Jade Melbourne still a chance for Perth clash, says Gemma Potter

It just depends how severe her injury is.

"She's a tough cookie, so she won't let anything hold her back from the game unless she's told to from team doctors," Capitals teammate Gemma Potter said of Melbourne.

"They'll just assess it and see. She'll be fighting with every inch of their body to make sure she gets back on court."

The Opals star limped off with a right ankle complaint in Sunday night's 36-point loss in Townsville, and became the latest Capitals causality following Potter's season-ending knee injury in the season-opener days earlier.

Watching the game back in Canberra, Potter shared the same reaction as every Capitals fan when she saw her good mate Melbourne grimacing on the floor.

"When Jade went down, I actually think I stopped breathing for a couple seconds," she told The Canberra Times.

"I was like, no, no, this isn't happening."

After a long-awaited return to the court battling her own injury hurdles in recent years, Potter is still coming to terms with her latest diagnosis of a ruptured ACL and sprained MCL suffered against Bendigo.

But she was there for Melbourne when the pair caught up over the phone after the game in Queensland.

"She's alright, she's in high spirits," Potter, who has surgery schedule on Thursday interstate, said.

"Anyone that knows Jade knows that she hated having to go off court in that moment and then not re-enter the game.

"They're just kind of taking it day by day with her at the moment. If they need scans they'll get some scans."

The team arrived back in the capital on Monday night, and will get straight back to the court to fix up the areas of their game that were exposed by the Spirit and Fire in their winless start to the season.

The Capitals face a tough stretch of away games continuing after Perth, with stops in Melbourne then Adelaide still to come before they play the Sydney Flames at home on December 10.

If coach Kristen Veal opts to rest Melbourne for the trip west this week, Potter is confident the Capitals have the right players to plug the gap, and said that with more time on the floor together the results will come.

"We have many capable players whether that is a point guard role, or if people have to play a bit out of position, but I think anyone can step up into that role," Potter said.

"Jade is an energy player and that's what everyone will need to bring a little bit more if we do lose her. She may still suit up though and I think she'll try everything she can to play that Perth game.

"We hadn't played with our starting five in the first game, and then I went down and there's a new starting five that haven't played together.

"So I think it's a bit unfortunate luck with the injuries and setbacks that we've had this early on.

"But once we get a bit of consistency going, I'm sure we'll prove what we know we can do.

"I've got no doubt the girls will get the job done in Perth."

WNBL Round 2: Perth Lynx v Canberra Capitals, Saturday 9.30pm

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