The Western Bulldogs could be without backline general Easton Wood for the foreseeable future after the 27-year-old left the ground with a hamstring injury during the first quarter of Saturday’s 14-point win over Brisbane.
Wood grabbed at his left hamstring after he was brought down by Jarrod Berry in a tackle and did not return to action.
Coach Luke Beveridge said he feared the worst but will wait for scans to confirm the extent of the injury.
“It’s probably more likely that it’s a bad one than a two or three-weeker I’d say,” Beveridge said post-match.
“I can’t confirm anything, they always scan them and we’ll give more during the week but it appears as though he’s hurt it pretty badly.”
As for who would replace the injured vice-captain when the Dogs face the Giants on Friday night at Etihad Stadium, Beveridge was keeping his options open.
“There’s a couple of key defenders in Fletcher Roberts and Kieran Collins… so there’s some candidates to come in there and we’ll work through that throughout the course of the week,” he said.
“It might depend a little bit on their personnel, Cameron will be out and Patton missed this weekend, so depends on how big they are at forward I think and the decisions we make around there.
“We’ve got some guys who are pretty mobile who can play through the high defensive posts and Matty Boyd’s there too. Matty played again the VFL level, so we will work it out.”