Brisbane have received the worst possible news from Jonathan Brown’s foot scans but coach Michael Voss is confident the star AFL forward will play on in 2014.

Brown has suffered a partial tear of the plantar fascia which has ruled him out for the rest of the season, and set him on course for a lengthy rehabilitation.

The Lions co-captain and the club were hoping scans would show he’d ruptured the connective tissue on the arch of his left foot in Saturday night’s win over St Kilda.

However, it wasn’t to be.

“The scans have come back and shown there is a partial tear. A rupture is probably a better scenario,” Voss said on Tuesday.

“It’s one of those unusual injuries where a rupture is better than a partial so we’ve just got to wait for the area to settle down … and make our assessment from there.”

The Lions medical team will wait a fortnight before charting a course for Brown’s rehabilitation, which should still enable him to be involved in pre-season training for 2014.

Brown, who turns 32 in October, is off-contract and yet to decide whether to play on for a 14th AFL campaign.

But Voss doubted Saturday’s game against Richmond at the MCG would be the start to life without their inspirational spearhead.

“What I’ve communicated to Browny is he’s required,” he said. “We want him to play on next year.

“Any discussion I’ve had with him, he’s in a good frame of mind, really positive about the direction of the team.

“He’ll make that decision in due course but, from initial chats that we’ve had, it’s all been quite positive.”

Voss felt fans and pundits were fearing Brown had played his 245th and last AFL game because he’d continued to stick to his conviction to wait until the end of the year before deciding his future.

Jordan Lisle and Stefan Martin are the prime contenders to replace the triple-premiership winner in the Lions’ forward line against the Tigers, with Voss pleased by their form in the reserves.

The coach said midfield duo Simon Black and Brent Moloney were both chances to return from injury against Richmond’s impressive on-ball division.