CARLTON will be missing up to 14 players for this week’s pivotal clash against an unbeaten Greater Western Sydney, with the club’s All-Australian defender Adam Saad headlining the list of absentees with a hamstring injury.
Saad is battling a medium-grade hamstring problem and is expected to miss the next six weeks, though Mitch McGovern and Adam Cerra are dealing with minor hamstring issues and could each be back within the next fortnight.
The blow will put Saad out of the 4-1 Blues’ gauntlet of upcoming fixtures, which includes matches against the ladder-leading Giants as well as Geelong, Collingwood, Melbourne and Sydney.
Saad was substituted out of last week’s shock loss to the previously winless Crows, having hurt his hamstring during the match, with McGovern also withdrawn late in the game and Cerra omitted before the bounce.
Caleb Marchbank had loomed as a potential option to replace McGovern, but will also miss again having already been sidelined for the past fortnight with concussion and then back tightness.
Jesse Motlop is another to have suffered a setback in his recovery, with the small forward now expected to miss at least the next month after a further hamstring injury was sustained at training.
