Fremantle coach Mark Harvey is confident the Dockers can cover the loss of small forward Hayden Ballantyne and key defender Chris Tarrant ahead of this Saturday's clash with North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.
Fremantle has lost Tarrant with a medial ligament injury and Sunday's six-goal hero Ballantyne with a foot injury after their 75-point demolition of West Coast, but Harvey is comfortable with players he has on the verge of returning as the Dockers look to cement a top-five finish.
Ballantyne played out Sunday's win showing no signs of the injury, but it showed up in scans on Monday. While Harvey isn-t sure what caused it, he will now likely miss three to four weeks, but fellow forward Chris Mayne is close to returning.
"It is (a big blow) but whilst we've had some injuries to key players throughout the course of the year we have managed to be in the area of winning more games than we lose. It will hurt in the short-term, but we'd like to think he'll be back in around three to four weeks," Harvey said.
"He is actually an interesting player and quite regularly stubs his toe when he kicks so we're not sure why it happened."
"He's kicked 32 goals but it's more important what he does off the ball and the same with Mayne. If you have the desire and attitude that we had last week to put pressure on the opposition then that's a collective agreement that we should have no matter who is in the side."
Michael Walters would be the other player that could fill Ballantyne's shoes up forward and he is coming off the best WAFL game of his career for Swan Districts two weeks ago against Claremont where he kicked two goals and had 28 possessions.
However, with Rhys Palmer and Kepler Bradley also due back, and ruckman Zac Clarke a chance, there will be pressure on for spots even with Tarrant and Ballantyne going out.
"They (Palmer and Bradley) are in line for selection and so is Walters. Zac Clarke is another one along with Clayton Hinkley and Byron Schammer," Harvey said.
"He (Walters) was the emergency on the weekend too and has been in good form in the WAFL. He's waiting for his chance like a few other guys are. It's a different stadium and opposition, though, so we'll look at what we need this week."
Tarrant was in outstanding form prior to a foot injury and kept Mark LeCras quiet before hurting his knee in his first game back on Sunday, but with McPhee also able to go into defence and Alex Silvagni soon to return, Harvey is confident of covering for him in the short-term.
He is also hopeful that Tarrant will stay at the club and still be there in 2011 despite speculation of him returning to Melbourne.
"We've got Silvagni just around the corner, McPhee can play back and the team can cope with a little bit of disturbance from an injury point of view, but if you keep losing your A-graders it can take its toll," Harvey said.
"All I will say is that he (Tarrant) loves this place and it has turned around a lot of things for him. We have had discussions about how he's feeling about how many years he wants to play and want his obligations are elsewhere, so there's a lot of things to talk about, but he can play another year or two."