Elliot Yeo injury: West Coast coach Andrew McQualter yet to rule out star for Sydney clash despite groin issue

Andrew McQualter says he’s hopeful Elliot Yeo’s latest injury is “not too bad”, with the West Coast coach even suggesting the star veteran could be an outside chance to take on Sydney this week.

It comes as the Eagles sweat on scans for another 2018 premiership player, with co-captain Liam Duggan being assessed following an ankle complaint.

Yeo was the catalyst for the Eagles’ second-quarter fightback against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, but watched the second half of the two-point win from the bench after sustaining a groin setback.

The two-time club champion was in just his third game back from a serious ankle injury, which sidelined him for all of last season.

Speaking on 7NEWS, McQualter said it would be “a challenge” for Yeo to take on the Swans at Optus Stadium off a six-day break but wouldn’t rule it out.

“We’re hopeful it’s not too bad,” McQualter said.

“He was in pretty good spirits after the game, but it was obviously bad enough not to come back on the ground in the second half,” he said.

“We’ll go away and do all our scans, and the medical teams will make some decisions over the next couple of days.

“It (Yeo’s availability) is not decided yet, but it probably is a challenge at this stage, considering he didn’t play the second half. But we’ll just get all the information and make a decision based on that.”

McQualter said Duggan had scans on an ankle issue suffered in the final quarter of the victory.

“He just had a little check on his ankle. He rolled his ankle late in the game and didn’t come back on,” he said.

“We’ll just get all the information to make sure we can make the best decisions we can for our team.”

West Coast’s backline is already depleted, with star recruit Brandon Starcevich (calf) and key defender Harry Edwards (concussion) both sidelined indefinitely.

Edward’s absence is likely to leave Ginbey to take on Swans spearhead Charlie Curnow, who has racked up hauls of 10 and nine goals against the Eagles in recent meetings.

“It doesn’t get much easier for Reuben or any of our key backs, does it?” McQualter said.

“Mitch Georgiades was pretty good on the weekend, but we know Charlie is a formidable opponent.

“They’re pretty tall in their forward line as well, so we’ve got some decisions to make around match-ups down there.”