Essendon coach Brad Scott has backed the competence of club doctors across the AFL, saying it’s important to “tread carefully” when criticising them.

Melbourne’s handling of Christian Petracca has become a hot talking point after the Demons midfielder briefly played on while nursing horrific internal injuries.

Petracca suffered four broken ribs, a lacerated spleen and a punctured lung after copping an accidental knee from Collingwood skipper Darcy Moore during the King’s Birthday clash on June 10.

The 28-year-old was allowed back on the field after an assessment by Demons medical staff, but the pain became so intense that he was subbed out of the game and taken to hospital by ambulance.

The first scan only showed some cracked ribs, but a secondary scan revealed the true extent of the damage – likened to that of a car crash.

Petracca spent several days in ICU and has already been ruled out for the rest of the season.