Scans have confirmed that Richmond defender, Alex Rance has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in last night’s 33-point win over Carlton, and will miss the remainder of the 2019 season.

Rance suffered the injury during a marking contest in the third quarter of the game.

Rance, 29, will consult with a surgeon today and is expected to have surgery to repair the damage in the coming days.

“We’re really disappointed for Alex that he’ll spend an extended period of time out of the game, he’s a wonderful player and fantastic leader of our team,” Richmond General Manager – Football, Neil Balme said.

“Alex, to his credit, has been incredibly positive since the injury occurred, and we’ll continue to rally around him in the coming days and throughout his rehab process.

“While we’ll miss his on-field contribution this season, we know he’ll apply the same dedication and discipline to his rehab and recovery, and we will continue to provide our ongoing support to him.”

Rance, a five-time All Australian, said he had been blown away by the outpouring of well wishes from the football community as he arrived at Olympic Park medical centre on Friday morning for scans, and told reporters he had been touched by a number of text messages from opposition players.

"I've had some amazing outreaches of love," Rance said.

"Daisy Thomas, Paddy McCartin, Scott Pendlebury, Trav Boak, Cal Ward … there's been a heap more, sorry if I've missed anybody who reached out.

"It really does show that there's a lot of family in footy, and as much as we're competitors and fierce rivals, there's still so much love. Nobody wants to see anyone go down and I really do appreciate that. I know my teammates love and care for me, so I'm very grateful for that."

Despite the results of the scan, Rance was upbeat on Friday morning.

"I wouldn't say shattering, that's a little bit dramatic," he said.

"It is what it is, there's injuries all the time. I'm just grateful that I have the life that I have and have the people around me that I do.

"It's still pretty raw. I'm just trying to focus on all the great things in my life at the moment. I'm not too down. It was a beautiful full moon last night, we get the win, fresh meat in the armour, there's plenty to celebrate."