COLLINGWOOD'S dire injury situation has gone from bad to worse with Jordan De Goey, Mason Cox and Joe Richards all ruled out until after the club's mid-season bye in round 15, while Brody Mihocek won’t play until after the King's Birthday blockbuster.
The Magpies had 12 players unavailable due to injury ahead of the trip to Western Australia before suffering three fresh injuries in the draw against Fremantle last Friday night.
Mihocek and Cox both didn't finish the game at Optus Stadium, with scans revealing the severity across the past 24 hours.
After missing two games with a hamstring strain, Mihocek will now miss at least the upcoming fixtures against the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne and possibly up to four weeks with a low-grade hamstring strain in the same area.
Cox was substituted out of the game following a nasty incident where the Texan's knee was trapped beneath him in an awkward landing.
The 33-year-old has been ruled out for the next six weeks with a grade-two medial collateral ligament injury.
De Goey is set to miss the next three or four weeks with an acute abdominal injury, following further investigation after he was ruled out of the game in Perth.
The 28-year-old missed the wins over Carlton and West Coast in round eight and nine due to a groin injury, returned against Adelaide in round 10 but was then ruled out of the Dockers' clash after suffering a fresh injury.
Richards' eye-catching start to his AFL career has been halted after the 24-year-old reported a foot issue following the game on Friday night.
Subsequent scans revealed a metatarsal fracture in his foot, placing him on the sidelines until round 16 at the earliest.
Veteran midfielder Scott Pendlebury will be available against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Friday night after being cleared of an arm injury.
After missing the past two games due to an adductor strain, Jeremy Howe could return this weekend to provide another option in attack – where he started in the Mother's Day game against West Coast – or down back.
Young key forward Reef McInnes is on track to pass concussion protocols in time to face the Bulldogs after missing the trip to Western Australia, while Jack Bytel will also be available if he trains fully on Wednesday.
Collingwood has navigated a challenging patch while blooding more than a handful of new faces across the past month.
Lachie Sullivan (four games), Harvey Harrison (nine games) and Richards (three games) were all influential against Justin Longmuir’s side, while Ed Allan and Wil Parker were both handed debuts and Charlie Dean (three games) was recalled for another opportunity down back.
The Magpies had the VFL bye last weekend but included Ash Johnson, Nathan Kreuger and Fin Macrae in the 26-man squad.
Draftees Harry DeMattia (four VFL games) and Tew Jiath (seven VFL games) could both get a taste of senior football in June or July, while Jakob Ryan could also get another chance after he was subbed out of his one appearance in his debut season due to concussion.
