Pictured: The dog bite wound that put Petracca in hospital

Christian Petracca will miss Melbourne’s must-win clash with Essendon on Sunday at Etihad Stadium because of one of the more bizarre injuries of the year.

The 22-year-old was bitten by one of his dogs on his left middle finger, and he has since undergone surgery after the wound became infected.

The original incident occurred last week, well before Tuesday’s game against Richmond.

He played in that Anzac Day Eve match with the finger bandaged and taped up.

But before it was, Channel 7 cameras caught Petracca entering the MCG and spotted the digit with a sizeable red scab on the skin near the nail.

Petracca won’t just be in and out of hospital, either.

Melbourne high performance boss Dave Misson revealed the wound became quite serious.

“That infection had gone into his bone and gone down to his finger joint, at the top of the finger,” he told the club’s website.

As a result Petracca will spend the entire weekend in hospital as doctors keep a close eye on his recovery.

But he could be back playing for the Demons in round seven, when they take on St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.

Remarkably, it’s not the first time Petracca has run into injury troubles in the backyard.

During the 2016 pre-season he earned the wrath of Melbourne and then coach Paul Roos after he broke a toe playing basketball in the backyard.