Kemp fell awkwardly early in Friday night's 2-0 win over North Queensland at Etihad Stadium and while he briefly returned to the field, he collapsed in pain a few minutes later and left the field.

A scan has revealed that Kemp has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, meaning he will require reconstructive surgery and will miss at least nine months.

The club said that there appeared to be no other damage to the knee which means he could be back midway through the 2010-11 A-League season.

Kemp, who played his first match for Australia in January against Kuwait, becomes the second Melbourne player to rupture an ACL this season after Billy Celeski suffered the same injury in September.

The 29-year-old has been in career-best from this season and his injury is a bitter blow to Melbourne on the eve of the finals series and with the Asian Champions League set to start later this month.

Victory hope to have Kemp undergo surgery as soon as possible.