LANCE Franklin turning his back on Hawthorn has prepared the Hawks for life without injured forward Jack Gunston, coach Alastair Clarkson says.
 
Gunston is set to miss two-to-three weeks in the run towards finals after he suffered a medial ligament injury in the 62-point win over the Western Bulldogs last weekend.

Hawks can cover loss of Gunston, says Birchall

The 22-year-old has blossomed in Franklin’s absence this season and sits third on the Hawks' goalkicking leaderboard with 44 majors, only two goals less than last year’s career-best season. 

But the decision to ease Hawthorn's reliance on Franklin as the main avenue to goal before his free agency move to the Sydney Swans has given Clarkson confidence in the reigning premiers' spread of goalkickers.
 
"He's a pretty important part to our front half, but our philosophy as a club is lose a soldier and replace him with another one," Clarkson said on Friday ahead of the Hawks' clash against Melbourne.
 
"Someone will fill that role for us. We were able to cope really throughout the course of this year without Buddy, for instance.
 
"He obviously left the club, but someone else steps up and plays a role for us and we're still able to score goals and win games.
 
"It's not ideal for us, obviously, he's been an important player for us but a real test of your side is how you cope in adversity.
 
"Our forward structure won't be the same as what it's been for the bulk of this year with Jack there but we're still sure we can kick a competitive enough score to win the game."
 
Hawthorn has faced an uphill battle on the injury front all season, however Gunston is now one of only a few injury concerns leading into September.
 
Isaac Smith (calf) and Sam Mitchell (flu) trained on Friday and look set to take their places against the Demons at the MCG.
 
Brian Lake returns from suspension next round, Cyril Rioli is edging closer to a pre-finals return and veteran midfielder Brad Sewell (hamstring) will return via Box Hill on Sunday.
 
"He (Sewell) probably just needs to get some match conditioning and some form and give himself every chance to get back into the side on the eve of the finals," Clarkson said.
 
The Hawks are perched on top of the ladder ahead of their clash with the Dees.
 
After Melbourne, Hawthorn faces a tricky run home against Fremantle (away), Geelong and Collingwood in its bid for a top-two spot.
 
"We had a really tough run leading into finals last year and it held us in really good stead too," Clarkson said.
 
"We're hoping that we can start to build towards some real tough finals footy preparation.”