WEST Coast is likely to regain the services of key midfielders Luke Shuey, Daniel Kerr and Sharrod Wellingham for Sunday's must-win clash with the Sydney Swans at Patersons Stadium.
Wellingham has played the past two weeks in the WAFL reserves at Claremont as his WAFL side East Perth has had consecutive byes.
The ex-Magpie has endured a tough time since arriving at the Eagles late last year, with a pre-season trampoline mishap forcing him to spend almost three months on the sidelines.
Then in his third game for his new club, he badly hurt his other ankle, resulting in another six weeks away from football.
Shuey has missed the past three matches with a hamstring injury while Kerr has not played the past two due to cracked ribs and knee soreness.
Eagles coach John Worsfold was confident, if not cagey, about the prospects of the star trio.
"Shuey is going really well, so we expect that he will do enough tomorrow to be right for selection," Worsfold said.
"Kerr is looking like he will do enough tomorrow to be up for selection as well.
"Wellingham is more around conditioning and when he is ready to go. He has pulled up well from his couple of weeks of footy."
The Swans and the Eagles are ranked first and third in total clearances in the AFL this season and Worsfold felt the midfield battle would be vital, which makes the possible inclusions all the more important.
"This game won't be too much different than most games in that stoppages are pretty important," Worsfold said.
"Shuey we know is an important player for the side, as are all those guys."
Adam Selwood and Sam Butler are also likely to be available as the Eagles attempt to take a big scalp after losing three of their past four matches against top eight sides.
But Scott Selwood will miss another week as he recovers from a fractured thumb.
There were doubts over the fitness of Nic Naitanui but Worsfold was quick to allay any fears over his star ruckman.
Naitanui has played 10 straight matches after missing the first five games of the year to due groin surgery during the pre-season. Worsfold said Naitanui's groin was not the issue hampering him at present.
"He's got a bit of a stiff back that he tweaked against Adelaide," Worsfold said.
"That was the main reason we held him from flying to Melbourne for the multicultural stuff, so that he wasn't stuck on a plane for the eight hours over a 24-hour period.
"But his back is improving all the time. That's an ongoing thing throughout his whole career and managing that when he does tweak it.
"His groins are not too bad."
