West Coast midfielder Jack Redden is set to miss the rest of the season after fracturing his thumb in Sunday night’s two-point loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Redden will undergo surgery on Tuesday and join prime movers Luke Shuey (hamstrings) and Elliot Yeo (groin) on the sidelines.
After three games back in the team, Mark Hutchings is also back on ice for several weeks after tweaking his hamstring.
“Unfortunately, the condensed fixture has got the better of a few of our players and I think we’ll lose Jack Redden as well for possibly the entire season with a fractured thumb, along with Mark Hutchings with a hamstring,” coach Adam Simpson told Channel Seven.
“There’s a few sore boys and we’re going to have to test our squad and our depth, but we’re up for the fight.
“It is a challenge, the guys who are prone to soft-tissue injuries this period of time it’s really difficult to get through unscathed.
“Every club has gone through it and we’re right in the middle of it now. We’ll test the depth of our list.
“The guys are actually up and about. They’re recovering well, they’re doing everything they can, they’re playing with good spirit and we just need to drag a couple more wins.”
The Eagles face a huge game against St Kilda on Thursday night in a clash between fifth and sixth on the ladder, with both sides coming off four-day breaks.
Star defender Jeremy McGovern (thumb) was one of several players who underwent scans on Monday but the four-time All Australian is confident of taking his place.
“I don’t think it’s the same injury from what I’ve been told. He feels quite confident, so we’re thinking we might get some positive news on that one,” Simpson said.
“We’ll wait and see it hasn’t been too positive on the injury front the last couple of weeks. Fingers crossed.”
Simpson declared influential ruckman Nic Naitanui and former skipper Shannon Hurn (rested) would return against St Kilda, while speedster Jack Petruccelle is available for his first game since round three following a hamstring issue.
Naitanui was a late withdrawal from the Dogs clash due to back soreness as West Coast took a conservative approach during their compressed run of five games in 19 days.
“This condensed fixture we’ve got, it’s a four-day break, five-day break, five-day break, four-day break. There’s just no way he would have got through fully fit,” Simpson said.
“We had to make a decision when that break was. He was a little bit sore on gameday so we erred on the side of caution and he’ll be available against the Saints.”
