IN A WEEK that has seen West Coast's availability drop to a new low, coach Adam Simpson will at least be able to assemble his best midfield group for the first time in almost two years.

The return of captain Luke Shuey for Saturday's clash against Adelaide will see the Norm Smith medallist play alongside all of Elliot Yeo, Tim Kelly and Dom Sheed for the first time since round 22, 2021.

It will be just the sixth time the midfield quartet has featured together in the 56 games played since the start of 2021, highlighting the injury issues that have hampered the gun mids, Kelly aside, in recent years.

"I can't remember the last time we had the combination that we've been preparing for ... it hasn't happened for a long time with the senior boys," a cautious Simpson said after the Collingwood loss on Saturday. "That will happen in the next few weeks, hopefully."

Simpson and the Eagles got a taste of what life could be like with a midfield that was close to fully stocked against the Magpies, with Sheed, Kelly and Yeo all excellent.

The Eagles controlled clearances (43-33) and centre clearances (17-12), while also achieving the rare feat of beating the Magpies at contested ball, with Sheed (12), Yeo (11) and Kelly (eight) filling three of the top four spots for groundball gets alongside Magpie Tom Mitchell (10).

The second and third quarters, which saw the Eagles dominate inside 50s 32-25 across the two terms, represented the best football the Eagles have played this season.

Kelly, Sheed and Yeo combined for 18 clearances and 29 contested possessions across those two terms, which saw West Coast go toe-to-toe with the ladder-leading premiership fancies.

Individually, Kelly is enjoying his best season as an Eagle and would be leading the best and fairest after averaging a career-high 28.6 disposals and 6.2 clearances, while Sheed showed his class with an equal career-high 43 disposals against the Magpies.

Yeo's past two matches and the return of his powerful stoppage game has been a positive after such a long battle with injuries and an initial easing back into the team via the backline.

Shuey returns this week having completed a mini pre-season that the Eagles hope will help prevent any reoccurrences of the soft tissue injuries he has battled in recent years.

While desperate for players to fill a squad of 26, they at least have the luxury of managing Shuey's time in the midfield if they choose to, and may well rotate him at half-back.

Likewise with Yeo, who attended 20 centre bounces on Saturday and won seven clearances, his best return since a brilliant 31-possession, 14-clearance game against Melbourne in round 21, 2021.

"We're trying to learn a bit from the Fremantle game earlier in the year," Simpson said when asked about managing Yeo this week.

"I think he played 90-odd minutes ... so it was our priority to manage, but some guys played huge minutes last week out of necessity and we've got to try and look after them this week."

Protecting their undersized backline against Adelaide will be a priority for the injury-hit Eagles, and the best way they can do that is by getting the upper hand in the midfield and limiting the Crows' supply.

There are holes in most areas of the ground for the Eagles, but having their best midfield finally available is something they can build around in the second half of the season.