WEST Coast's already-depleted midfield has taken another hit with Jack Redden likely to miss the rest of the season after suffering a fractured thumb.
Redden will have surgery on Tuesday after sustaining the injury during the two-point loss to the Western Bulldogs on Sunday.
He will be joined on the sidelines by fellow on-baller Mark Hutchings, who strained a hamstring against the Bulldogs and will miss several weeks.
The Eagles are already missing skipper Luke Shuey (hamstring) and Elliot Yeo (groin) from their first-choice engine room, with just three games remaining ahead of the finals.
"There's a few sore boys and we're going to have to test our squad and our depth, but we're up for the fight," coach Adam Simpson told Channel Seven.
"It is a challenge, the guys who are prone to soft-tissue injuries this period of time it's really difficult to get through unscathed.
"Every club has gone through it and we're right in the middle of it now. We'll test the depth of our list."
However, star ruckman Nic Naitanui will return after his late withdrawal against the Bulldogs, and he'll be joined by former captain Shannon Hurn.
"This condensed fixture we've got, it's a four-day break, five-day break, five-day break, four-day break. There's just no way he would have got through fully fit," Simpson said of Naitanui.
"We had to make a decision when that break was. He was a little bit sore on gameday so we erred on the side of caution and he'll be available against the Saints."
