West Coast coach Adam Simpson has conceded the Eagles could lose up to seven players from the team that lost to Fremantle in Western Derby 56, with small forward Jamie Cripps hospitalised on Sunday night with a broken ankle.

Star defender Jeremy McGovern suffered a hamstring injury that Simpson said was serious, while captain Luke Shuey was substituted out with what also appeared to be a hamstring injury, with the coach unsure of the midfielder's status.

Defender Alex Witherden will need to be assessed after a head knock in a collision with Fremantle midfielder Jaeger O'Meara, having run with the flight of the ball into the contest and taken heavy contact.

Premiership forward Liam Ryan played on with his left knee strapped after crashing to the Optus Stadium turf having flown for a mark, with the Eagles left with 18 fit players when his night eventually ended.

"I think we're probably going to lose six or seven players from today," Simpson said, without revealing the other concerns that emerged from a courageous performance that saw the Eagles fight on and cut the margin to just two points early in the fourth quarter.

"I said to them at three-quarter time, in juniors you don't want to come off, well that's happening this quarter.

"In the end, we got overwhelmed. They were a better side and I tip my hat to Fremantle ... but we'll take some real positives.

"We'll draw upon some of our players who played WAFL Eagles yesterday, but we're glass half full on today.

"We're not crying poor, we're not complaining. It's just collision and soft tissue combination ... I thought that we held our own for as long as we could."

Simpson, who coached from the boundary in the second half to better support his players, said premiership midfielder Elliot Yeo was a chance to return from a calf injury for next Sunday's clash against Melbourne.

Tall defender Harry Edwards would be a likely replacement for McGovern, while midfielders Greg Clark, Connor West, Jai Culley and Xavier O'Neill are likely to push their cases.