WEST Coast has named its third debutant in two weeks with first-round draft pick Liam Duggan set to make his AFL debut against Carlton on Friday night.

But the excitement of Duggan's debut has been tempered by the loss of Eagles vice-captain Scott Selwood due to an ankle injury. Selwood experienced soreness in the ankle he had operated on twice last year and did not recover in time face the Blues.

The Eagles have made four changes to the side that lost to the Western Bulldogs last week. Selwood (ankle), Mitch Brown (knee), Sam Butler (adductor) and Tom Lamb (omitted) have been replaced by Duggan, Will Schofield, Simon Tunbridge and Jamie Bennell.

Duggan becomes the third Eagle to debut in the first fortnight of the season. Lamb and Jackson Nelson debuted last week after the pair played every game of the pre-season.

The 18-year-old midfielder, who was recruited by West Coast with pick No.11 in last year's draft, had a slightly interrupted pre-season by comparison. He was held back due to an ankle injury and played just one of the NAB Challenge games, against Port Adelaide.

But Eagles coach Adam Simpson said Duggan deserved his spot due to his form in the WAFL. He collected 23 disposals and kicked a goal in East Perth's big win over Subiaco on Good Friday, following on from 22 disposals and two goals against East Fremantle the previous week.

"He's earned his spot," Simpson said on Thursday. "We're not going to put too much pressure on him.”

"He's been pretty consistent at WAFL level for an 18-year-old, and he got tagged on the weekend. We think there's an opportunity for him to play, and we'll see how he goes.

"There's a bit of a class about him. Obviously there's some years to come and development to go through, but he's playing like a man at the moment.

"Whether he can last a full game or not is the next challenge for him.

"It's just exciting to get another fresh face in the side."

Schofield is an important inclusion following the loss of Mitch Brown and Eric Mackenzie. But the Eagles lose more experience with Butler and Selwood being withdrawn.

West Coast will field six players with fewer than 25 games experience on Friday night and only nine with more than 100 games experience.

Simpson said it was exciting for the club to have so much youth coming through but the club still expects the young players to perform.

"It's exciting for the club to have a young list that's developing but it also comes with a bit of expectation too," Simpson said.

"These guys are looking around and realising they're the guys who we need to step up. It's a lot to ask. You're going to have ups and downs.

"You're always striving for that consistency. You just don't get it with the guys that have played under 20 games. We understand that and we're looking bigger picture. But in the same breath we want to win and we expect them to perform. "