ESSENDON dynamo Alwyn Davey looks set to miss the rest of the 2008 season with a knee injury and dual premiership player Dustin Fletcher could miss out on representing Victoria in the upcoming Hall of Fame match due to a groin injury.

Davey was a late withdrawal from the blockbuster clash and Fletcher, who was arguably Essendon's best player until leaving the field, sustained his injury during the third term and did not return.

Essendon coach Matthew Knights revealed on Friday, after the Bombers’ 73-point loss to Collingwood on Anzac Day at the MCG, that Davey was likely to be sidelined for the rest of the season and Fletcher would definitely miss round seven.

"Alwyn, spiritually is such a big loss, because he is such a terrific young man and he's got three young boys and he's a good family man and he's the lifeblood of our forward line at times," Knights said post-match.

"He just went down in a freak training incident yesterday and he was looking to rove a ball off a stoppage and he just went to change direction and he stopped and propped and at this stage, it looks as if he's in a lot of trouble and I would be very surprised if Alwyn plays for the rest of the year.

"There are fears that it's an anterior cruciate ligament, so it's just a freak accident, but he'll be back. He's only young and he's a fine young man and he's a big part of our team moving forward and it's just one of those freak accidents that we can't do much about."

On Fletcher, Knights said: "Dustin's got a strained adductor. I would dare say he would definitely miss next week and then we've got the week off the following week, so he'll definitely not play next week."

Although Knights feared the worst for Davey, the exciting forward was more optimistic about his prospects when he spoke after seeing his side's loss.

"I don't know and the doctors don't know yet, so we'll just have to wait until Monday to find out what's going on with my knee," Davey said, who also appears set to miss representing the Dream Team, having been included in its squad.

"I was doing a drill and the ball went out of my hand and I tried to turn at the last minute and as I turned, I just felt this click in my knee and I went down and went back up."

"I did a fitness test and passed that, but I think the club would just give me a rest anyway … and we'd see how we'd go Monday with the scans.

"I broke my arm last year and it was devastating to miss 14 games and then do a full pre-season and then come back and have the injury in round six is pretty shattering, but hopefully I can get over them."

Knights also spoke about the progress of premiership forward Scott Lucas, who injured his knee in the opening round of the season.

"His rehab is going well, but the fact is he's still going to be six to eight weeks away - maybe round 10, 11 or 12 - and he's tracking really well, but again, I'm not in any temptation to rush him back or push him," Knights said.

"He's just like the other boys - they'll play when he's ready - whether it be [Courtenay] Dempsey, [Leroy] Jetta, [Sam] Lonergan, [Mark] McVeigh or [Scott] Lucas. They'll play when they're right to play, rather than pushing them, just because of our situation."

Despite Essendon's growing injury list, Knights said it was no excuse for the way his side had performed against the Pies.

"I said to the players at the start of the year that we were going to virtually use all of the list, so the bottom line is just because we've got injuries today, it's no excuse for losing the way we did."

"Sure, we'd like to have some more experience out there at times and even some more grunt around the ball with say, McVeigh, Lonergan and [Heath] Hocking in the team - that really complements our team - but the reality is they're not there and that's no excuse for the way we played today."