HAWTHORN has ruled skipper Jarryd Roughead out of Saturday night's clash with St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, but the Hawks are likely to get ruckman Ben McEvoy back in the side.

Roughead was a late withdrawal from the win over Geelong on Saturday because of ankle soreness.

"He had some inflammation and he'll probably miss one more week," Hawks high performance manager Andrew Russell told hawthornfc.com.au.

McEvoy has missed five games because of a fractured cheekbone and faces a test before being selected to play against his former club.

"He's a really good chance to play this week," Russell said.

Utility Brendan Whitecross didn't play last week because of illness and faces a fitness test ahead of the weekend.

The round 23 clash with Sydney at the SCG could mark defender Grant Birchall's first game for a season-and-a-half after a series of knee injuries.

"He is in the later stages of his fitness program. He won't play football this week, and next week will be the first time we'll have a serious discussion about when he's ready," Russell said.

Fellow defender James Sicily continues to recover well from a broken scaphoid, however according to Russell, "we know the injury we're dealing with and he won't play until the first week of the finals".

Midfielder Will Langford faces three more weeks on the sidelines because of a hamstring injury, while Mitch Lewis will miss one more week because of shoulder soreness.