Fears over the severity of North Melbourne star Daniel Pratt's rib injury have eased.

Pratt was hospitalised with suspected internal bleeding after a collision with Carlton's Brendan Fevola in Friday night's pre-season match at Telstra Dome.

But North football manager Donald McDonald on Saturday said the defender was suffering only bruised ribs and would be fit for round one.

The incident happened in the third quarter of the match as the Kangaroos went down to the Blues by 53 points.

"He copped the full brunt of a rampaging Fev (Brendan Fevola), courageously getting back in the hole," McDonald told radio SEN.

"Our doctor is an experienced campaigner. Daniel was in a lot of pain we he came off the field, but he sent him off to hospital just as a precaution to make sure there was no bleeding on the lungs.

"He might miss a week or two, but no more, he'll be right for round one, and that's great news for North supporters."

North coach Dean Laidley admitted this week that the Roos were focused more on their practice than on winning in the NAB Cup, but McDonald said Carlton was in impressive form.

"It would have been fantastic to win and get another game in the NAB Cup, another week using great facilities, but the Blues were fantastic, very sharp," he said.

"We felt we still have a lot of work to do, we weren't where we wanted to be as a group, but we've got another month to prepare for that."

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