Hawthorn’s luckless Jon Patton has suffered another serious injury which seems certain to end his AFL season.

Patton appeared to injure his lower leg injury in the opening quarter of Thursday’s twilight match against Essendon in Adelaide.

The key forward pulled up suddenly when running and departed the ground favouring his right leg, amid fears of a calf muscle tear or achilles tendon injury.

The Hawks have yet to detail the exact nature of the injury to Patton, who tore his right hamstring in round six this year – he was in tears on the bench and missed the next six games.

The No.1 pick at the 2011 draft returned against Port Adelaide last Saturday and the latest injury setback is another cruel blow for the 27-year-old.

Patton had already undergone three knee reconstruction operations – two on his right knee, one on his left – before he was traded to Hawthorn from Greater Western Sydney at the end of the 2018 season.

He missed the entire 2019 campaign and the round 14 clash with the Bombers was just his sixth game for the Hawks.