Luke McAlister is in doubt for New Zealand's end-of-year tour after rolling his ankle while training with North Harbour.

The midfield back stood on a cone during a skills session and while X-rays have ruled out a break, the 26-year-old will have an MRI scan on Wednesday to assess the extent of the damage.

McAlister will definitely miss North Harbour's Air New Zealand Cup match against Wellington this Saturday and Harbour coach Craig Dowd expects him to be out of action for at least two weeks.

Dowd told Radio Sport: "We have got our fingers crossed for the guy. He has worked very hard and he has had a lot of bad luck with injuries this year.

"Possibly he can be available for maybe the second round of the All Blacks tour."

New Zealand have a Test against Australia in Tokyo on October 31 before taking on Wales, Italy, England, France and the Barbarians on successive weekends.

McAlister has endured a tough few months since returning from his two-year stint with English Premiership club Sale.

He struggled to find form after being rushed straight back into the All Blacks' fold following his return in May.

He was then hampered by back spasms before fracturing a cheekbone in the Bledisloe Cup win against the Wallabies in Sydney.

He required surgery to insert metal plates and after six weeks out recovering he played his first game last weekend, scoring a try in North Harbour's 28-7 win against Bay of Plenty.

All Blacks coach Graham Henry names his touring party on Sunday. The group will then assemble for a three-day camp in Auckland before leaving for Japan on October 25.