It looked ugly but Manly are confident Joel Thompson won’t miss any NRL action after suffering a split tongue in Sunday’s loss to Newcastle.

The second-rower had the tip of his tongue stitched on Sunday night after it was damaged while tackling a Knights’ player in the 26-24 defeat.

Sea Eagles head physiotherapist James Rahme said despite the gruesome nature of the injury, which did cause significant bleeding, Thompson should be fine to play South Sydney on Saturday.

“Usually those type of injuries you’ve got a pretty good recovery so I would imagine that Joel should be playing this week,” Rahme said.

Of more concern to the Sea Eagles is the loss of fill-in fullback Brendan Elliott after scans confirmed he’d suffered an ACL tear against the Knights.

It means Elliott will undergo a knee reconstruction during the week and leaves coach Des Hasler scrambling for a replacement with Tom Trbojevic still recovering from a hamstring tear.

Rahme said scans done last week on Trbojevic’s injury showed the tissue hadn’t completely healed yet.

“It’s out of our control,” Rahme said.

“It’s out of Tom’s control unfortunately. He’s about 95 per cent there regarding the tissue being healed.

“Once that’s healed we can really push him on the field and get him back with the team.”

Cade Cust and Jack Gosiewki finished the Knights’ clash with knocks but while Gosiewki’s ankle will have to be monitored, Rahme was confident both players should be fit to face the Rabbitohs.

There is also encouraging news with prop Addin Fonua-Blake making good progress with his knee injury and a hope he might be able to return sooner than initially feared.