Jenkins expects a broken ankle to confine him to coaching duties from the bench for the rest of the Central Highlands Football League season.

He suffered the fracture in Beaufort's 31-point win over Ballan at Beaufort on Saturday. Jenkins had surgery on Sunday.

He has had on-field leadership duties while his joint coach Brendan Howard has been out with a calf issue.

Howard is close to returning, but is yet to confirm when he will be back in action.

Beaufort has capitalised on a favourable early season draw to string together four wins in a row to be seventh after six rounds.

The Crows get an opportunity to stretch the sequence against Daylesford on Saturday before facing Dunnstown going into the Queen's Birthday long weekend break.

Meanwhile, Ballan senior coach Tristan Batten also faces a long recovery after suffering broken ribs and a punctured lung in a reserves game at Beaufort at the weekend.

He was released from hospital on Tuesday.

Batten said the recovery process was expected to take six to eight weeks,

He said with mobility restricted he just had to take it day-by-day

Assistant coach Daniel Nielsen has stepped in to act as caretaker coach.

Ballan plays Bungaree at Maddingley Park in Bacchus Marsh on Saturday as it strives to get its first win of the year.