A serious pectoral injury to defender Josh Gibson has ruled him out for 10 weeks and he'll join Sam Mitchell, Cyril Rioli and Brian Lake on the sidelines. They are not expected to return within the next month.
Luke Hodge (hamstring) and Liam Shiels (shoulder) are both tipped to be back for next week's game against Port Adelaide, providing slight relief to the mass absence of experienced personnel.
Fagan told Melbourne radio station SEN that the club wasn't panicking, saying it won last year's flag with similar injury concerns.
He said the opportunity for others to increase their leadership would ultimately prove a valuable silver lining.
"It gives that middle tier of players, guys like Ben Stratton and Shiels and Luke Breust the opportunity to step up and show more leadership," Fagan said.
"There's a bit of short-term pain but the long-term benefits to the group, I think, will be excellent.
"It's not the first time we've faced adversity.
"People probably forget last year we won the flag but we had four knee reconstructions: Rioli was missing for 10 weeks, (Grant) Birchall was missing for seven and I think Franklin was missing for about six.
"We know it's not ideal that some of your really experienced players aren't playing but it does give others and opportunity and it's not an excuse for poor performance."
Twitter: @AFL_Harry
