Essendon's Andrew McGrath has suffered another setback, with an adductor injury set to see the midfielder sidelined for the Bombers' Round 15 clash with West Coast.
McGrath missed Essendon's loss to Carlton due to the same injury after battling soreness in the days leading up to the Round 13 encounter, with the 24-year-old deemed fit to feature against St Kilda this week.
A move to half-back saw McGrath flourish in Essendon's shock 35-point win over the Saints, collecting 21 disposals, 10 marks and 8 intercepts at a disposal efficiency rate of 90.5%.
The return showed no symptoms of the adductor injury hampering McGrath's return, however, further scans on Saturday have shown a low-grade strain to the same muscle.
"He had some adductor tightness and awareness late in the game, in the similar area to what he has recently been experiencing which is why he got scanned on Saturday morning,โ Bombers football boss Josh Mahoney revealed.
โHe wonโt be available for next weekโs game against West Coast, but we will closely monitor his recovery before making an assessment on his availability for the week following.โ
The result is set to see McGrath miss next Friday's matchup with the Eagles, a game that could see Ben Rutten secure consecutive victories for the first time since the final rounds of last year.
The scalp of the Saints is sure to have buoyed the Bombers' confidence in securing a further four points against the bottom-placed Eagles, however, McGrath's latest setback will see some of those beliefs wane by a fraction.
Essendon could welcome fellow onballer Kyle Langford back from hamstring surgery in Round 15, with the big-bodied Bomber having not been seen since the club's season opener against Geelong.
Langford made his return to action on Saturday for Essendon's reserves against Sandringham.
In-form midfielder Darcy Parish is also set to return from injury after missing the win over St Kilda with a corked calf.
Essendon will travel to Optus Stadium next Friday to face West Coast at 8:40pm (AEST).
