The timeline on Western Bulldogs ruckman Tim English’s return remains unclear, with coach Luke Beveridge revealing their medical staff are still waiting to fully assess his knee injury.
The Dogs confirmed earlier this week that English had sustained an MCL knee injury in Sunday’s win over Essendon.
The club originally said he will “be assessed in coming days to determine a return to play plan” but that timeline is dragging out.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Beveridge said: “We’re still waiting. He’s still pretty ginger and I think our medical staff are just waiting to see how it settles.
“Nothing’s ever definitive as far as when the player might be available again, but that’ll probably come through the airwaves or on the digital space mid-next week I would have thought.”
Beveridge confirmed Louis Emmett will debut in English’s absence as the side’s ruckman against Hawthorn.
He said: “When you consider Hawthorn’s lads in Reeves and Meek – it’s a week where if those two guys are playing…you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul if you’re committing to (Lobb and Darcy) to the first ruck role.
“This is a week where it’s inconvenient to say the least, especially with the centre-bounce side of things which we’ve been going pretty well at.
“We need to compete and make sure that we don’t compromise any of the other boys who have been playing really important roles for us.”
