Young gun Stratton went down with a season-ending knee injury during the round three defeat of Richmond and was joined on the sidelines by Gilham when the 2008 premiership defender ruptured his ACL against St Kilda in round eight.
But far from capitulating under the weight of injuries, the Hawks have found able replacements in Tom Murphy and Ryan Schoenmakers.
The team is conceding just 75.4 points per game on average - ranked third in the competition behind only ladder leaders Geelong and Collingwood.
"We lost 'Stratts' early in the year and then 'Gilly' and you sort of start thinking about whether we can find players to fill their spots," Guerra told afl.com.au after the Hawks conceded only 62 points to the Bulldogs on Sunday.
"But 'Schoey' has come in and done a great job, and young Paul Puopolo has come into the side and shown a bit down there and done a great job too."
Small defender Puopolo, who debuted against Port Adelaide in round seven and now appears secure in the Hawks' best 22 after four steady matches, was one of a number of defenders to enjoy a day out against the Bulldogs.
He amassed 22 disposals and six tackles as Hawthorn applied the squeeze on the Bulldogs forwards and then refused to give the ball up once they had possession.
Guerra himself had 35 touches, Grant Birchall 28, Matt Suckling and Murphy 24 and Gibson 19 as the Hawks chipped the ball around, dictating the tempo of play.
"You normally come up against sides that play the press, but the Bulldogs were playing one-on-one footy today which makes it tough to get the ball forward," Guerra said.
"We did have a lot of uncontested marks, but we got away with the win, and it was a good result."
Guerra echoed coach Clarkson in his praise of Josh Gibson, who in Gilham's absence will be saddled with the opposition's best key forward every week.
At 189cm and 92kg Gibson gave away five centimetres and 12kg to Sunday's opponent Barry Hall, but held the Bulldogs full forward goalless in his best performance of an excellent year so far.
"He played great today and he's been good all season really," Guerra said of the former Kangaroo.
On his own bright form, Guerra said he is relishing his return to his customary position after being experimented with as a forward earlier in the season.
"To get back in defence, I love playing there and I play a lot better footy back there," he said.
Mark Macgugan covers Hawthorn news for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @mmacgugan.
