HAWTHORN coach Sam Mitchell was left saddened by Chad Wingard's suspected Achilles injury in the Hawks' upset win over the Western Bulldogs.
The Hawks stunned by the Bulldogs by three points at UTAS Stadium on Sunday, but Wingard was carried off in the opening stages with what Mitchell described as a "lower-leg injury".
HAWKS v BULLDOGS Full match coverage and stats
Wingard, 30, is out of contract at season's end and had started to build some good form in recent weeks, having 26 disposals against both St Kilda and Collingwood.
Mitchell was saddened by Wingard's injury setback as the Hawks were left with mixed emotions after their seventh win of the season.
"Obviously looked pretty significant at the time and got carried off. He's been in such great form so I was really sad for him," he said.
"We don't know the extent of it at this stage. It's a challenging one for all the boys because I think everyone's really happy about the win, and then we're all feeling for Chad.
"I guess we'll wait and see what the medical update is in a couple of days."
The Bulldogs were dealt a blow of their own in the second quarter when gun midfielder Tom Liberatore was substituted after being concussed following an accidental knee to the head.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge lamented how his side was beaten around the ball, losing contested possessions by 12 (124-112) and inside 50s by seven (50-43).
"I think the simple aspect of the game was they broke too many of our tackles," he said.
"Those disputed ball situations, they just won a hell of a lot more than us and that enabled them to get territory and more inside 50s than us.
"We had a really stale part of the game after half-time where we couldn't create any momentum, couldn't get any ball movement, couldn't get the ball.
"They won it at the coalface and by in large our backs held up pretty well throughout the course of the game but we just couldn't create any opportunities."
While the Hawks are now 7-14, the Bulldogs slipped to 11-10 and were left fighting for a place in the finals.
