West Coast's match committee might need to get creative to cover the loss of Luke Shuey and combat the Western Bulldogs onball prowess this Sunday, according to Adam Simpson.

Speaking on the first dilemma, Simpson said the Eagles’ selection panel had as many as three options to cover the loss of the team’s skipper, who suffered a double hamstring strain late in the club’s 15-point win over Essendon.

The first option was bringing in a fresh face into the mix, the second shifting a mid-forward into a pure onball role and the third was throwing one of the club’s many versatile defenders into the middle at Metricon Stadium.

Simpson said he had a lot to weigh up before finalising his starting 22 at 4.20pm AWST tomorrow.

“The team is probably not as settled as it normally is with our roles and our positions,” Simpson conceded.

“We’ve actually got Xavier O’Neill playing in the forward line on the weekend, so he’s another player who could play in that role. Hamish (Brayshaw) is definitely an option for us and we’ve got (Jarrod) Brander and (Brayden) Ainsworth.

“Also, we’ve probably got an oversupply of defenders with Liam Duggan, Tom Cole and Jackson Nelson. There are players who could play that, but it’s just not their primary role, so that’s the advantage of a Hamish or Xavier O’Neill, albeit they’re kids and learning their trade. It’s that versus a bit more experience.”

No matter the midfield cattle Simpson has at his disposal, he’ll have his work cut out devising a plan to stifle the disposal happy Bulldogs, who boast some of the league’s best ball winners.

Jackson Macrae (27 disposals) and Lachie Hunter (25.83) rank third and sixth respectively in average disposals for season 2020, while captain Marcus Bontempelli and Bailey Smith generally amassing more than 20 touches and close to four inside 50s per outing.

Simpson conceded Mark Hutchings would probably lock on to one of Luke Beveridge’s noted midfielders, but he suggested the Eagles could not afford to play defence all day if they wanted to register their 11^th win of the year.

“The problem with the Doggies is there are too many good players,” Simpson said while responding to a question about tagging players.

“Bontempelli, that’s an obvious choice, but Hunter is involved in 40 per cent of their scores and Macrae averages 30 touches (sic) a week. And then there’s Smith.

“There are players everywhere for the Bulldogs. They accumulate the ball really well and they run hard both ways.

“Hutch is in the side and I think the last couple of weeks we’ve had to use him both games to try and nullify someone, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens against at some stage this Sunday.”

Simpson confirmed Josh Kennedy’s return and had his fingers crossed that four-time all-Australian Jeremy McGovern would be available for Sunday’s game.

However, he admitted the availability of several players would be unknown until after the club’s captain run.

“I heard today he had a bit of a kick and a catch and a jog, so he’s a bit in front of where we thought he might be,” Simpson said on McGovern.

“He’s a player that I thought might not play this week, but he’s put his hand up. We’ll just see how he pulls up tomorrow.

“They are all doing specific recovery today. I think they have gone to some recovery centre this afternoon. It was voluntary and I think they had 40 players volunteer.

“There are a couple of other guys we need to make a decision on, but we’ll give them until pretty much game day until we make that call.”