BRAD Sewell is facing more time on the sidelines after the Hawthorn veteran developed hamstring soreness in his first game since tearing the muscle last month.
The 30-year-old had 20 touches and pulled up well from Box Hill's win over Werribee on Saturday but was sore the following morning.
He looks set to miss another fortnight with the club to investigate how his sciatic nerve is affecting his hamstring.
Sewell initially tore the hamstring in the Hawks' practice match against Melbourne in early March and was expected to miss at least round one.
The setback couldn't have come at a worse time for Sewell given the emergence and form of Will Langford and Jonathan Simpkin.
However, in better news for the Hawks, they are expecting to regain captain Luke Hodge for Saturday night's clash with Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium.
Hodge trained strongly on Tuesday morning but will need to clear another hurdle on Thursday before being named to return from the groin injury he sustained in round two against Essendon.
Ruckman Ben McEvoy is also expected to play after being withdrawn from Friday night's win over Fremantle with a sore calf.
"He's in a similar vein to Hodgey, he didn't quite do as much at training as what Hodgey did but again, we'll put him through a test on Thursday and see how he comes up," general manager of football operations Chris Fagan told the club's website.
Fellow big man David Hale will play against the Suns after recovering from the shoulder scare he suffered against the Dockers.
Hale had treatment in the rooms in the third quarter but played out the game.
"Haley just copped a bit of a stinger on his shoulder in his 200th game – it looked a bit dramatic there for a while but he was able to return to the field and has recovered from the game really well," Fagan said.
"He was able to train today so we expect him to be out there on Saturday night."
Defender Ben Stratton could return this week after a successful VFL hit-out following his hamstring injury, which was originally sustained in the same game as Sewell's last month.
He was one of Box Hill's best on Saturday and has pulled up well.
Meanwhile, another backman in Ryan Schoenmakers has taken a big step towards an AFL return after playing his first competitive minutes following last year's knee reconstruction.
But Alex Woodward, who is also on the comeback trail from a knee reco, will miss two weeks with a shoulder injury.
