CHERRIES star Tommy Elphick tonight expressed his relief after learning he had escaped serious injury following Ryan Lowe’s horror tackle.

Stand-in skipper Elphick feared he had sustained knee damage after being on the receiving end of an X-rated lunge from the MK Dons man.

Veteran striker Lowe launched into a two-footed tackle on the defender in the first half of Cherries’ 3-0 win at stadium:mk on Saturday.

The ugly challenge sparked a furious reaction from Elphick and his Cherries colleagues as he was left with stud marks on his leg and a jarred knee.

However, Cherries confirmed that the linchpin centre-half would be facing two to three weeks on the sidelines after avoiding a lengthy lay-off.

A scan this afternoon revealed the 25-year-old had no major injury and had sustained bruising to the tibia and femur in the wild tackle.

Giving his reaction via social networking website Twitter, Elphick said he was “buzzing” at the outcome.

Despite the news being better than first thought, Cherries could still be without the key man for their League One matches against Portsmouth, Crewe, Preston and Sheffield United.

That would come as a setback especially after summer signing Elphick had firmly established himself as an inspirational performer for Eddie Howe’s League One promotion contenders.

Prior to limping off in Saturday’s clash, the Brighton-born defender had played every minute of every game since Howe’s appointment.

Centre-half Elphick is also the club’s leading appearance-maker this term with 33 starts.