THE WESTERN Bulldogs are hopeful star midfielders Tom Liberatore and Jackson Macrae will return in time to play finals after both were injured in the loss to Geelong on Friday night.
Liberatore had surgery on Saturday afternoon after a tackle caused him to suffer a high left ankle sprain in the second quarter of the clash against the Cats.
"He's come through that really well, so our plan is to get him back up and running from a rehab perspective as quickly as possible," Bulldogs football manager Graham Lowe told the club's website.
"We need to manage it the right way, but we're optimistic that Tom can play a key part for us towards the end of the season."
Macrae hurt his right hamstring in the third term and while the club said there is some damage to the tendon, they are hopeful he will return before the finals begin in five weeks.
"It has got some tendon involvement which means it will take little bit longer but Jack will commence rehab in the coming days," Lowe said.
"We're optimistic he'll have a role to play towards the end of the season."
Those injuries come off the back of Mitch Wallis' season-ending broken leg and Jake Redpath's ACL rupture – both against St Kilda in round 18.
Matthew Boyd and Matthew Suckling both missed the Cats clash with Achilles injuries but trained over the weekend and pulled up well, and are a chance to face North Melbourne on Saturday night.
Defender Dale Morris could also return if he passes a fitness test, after he missed with a hamstring injury.
Bailey Williams had exploratory surgery on Monday to help him deal with a knee injury. Williams plans to resume running next week, and the club is hopeful he will return quickly.
Meanwhile, key defender Kieran Collins will have scans after hurting his shoulder in the VFL on the weekend.
