HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson says he expects injured duo Trent Croad and Shane Crawford to return for next week's Friday night clash with West Coast at the MCG.

The pair will miss this weekend's tussle with North Melbourne, Croad with a hip injury and Crawford with knee tendonitis.

Croad was named to play against the Crows last weekend but was a late withdrawal. He sustained the injury in training.

"He's (Croad) very close, he'll probably play next week," Clarkson said.

"We thought that last week too.

"He's had a whack to his hip. We thought it was going to be a minor thing but it hasn't settled as quickly as we'd like.

"We're just mindful that he's such an important player for our structure that we don't want to run the risk of hurting him unless we have to."

Crawford's his knee injury has kept him out of action since round eight, although he was ineligible to play in round nine due to suspension.

"He's pretty similar to Croady," Clarkson said.

"We thought he was going to be available for the Kangaroos game.

"He's trained really hard across the week and last weekend and we just think he's better off having an extra week and unless something untoward happens in the next three or four days, I think he'll be a certainty to play the West Coast game."