West Coast are "running out of weeks" to have Elliot Yeo feature at AFL level this year following another setback to an ongoing ankle issue.
Yeo has not played this year due to the ailment, which was sustained in the pre-season, and has been hampered by multiple setbacks.
A late-season return looked on the cards before another hindrance, with Yeo again listed at 'TBC' to return.
The Eagles will assess the injury further and will have a clearer indication on the likely extent of his return timeframe, with coach Andrew McQualter stating the latest setback is "a shame" for the star veteran.
"He just hasn't progressed as well as we'd hoped when integrating back into training," the Eagles coach said on Thursday.
"We've just got to do a bit more research, and then we'll know a bit more in the next week or so.
"It's a shame for him, it's been a really challenging period. For us as well, he's a really important player to our team.
"We'll keep working with him and try and find the best outcome we can."
With just seven weeks left in West Coast's season, the Perth club might not risk having Yeo on the field and potentially interrupt the subsequent pre-season.
McQualter admitted the club and Yeo are running out of time to have the 2024 Glendinning-Allan Medal winner pull on the royal blue and gold.
"We're running out of weeks. There's no question about that," McQualter said.
"It's still really important that we set him up for success, whether he plays this year or not. We'll keep pushing his rehab to get him back and available.
"[The setback] is all to do with the original injury. It's just had some complications along the way. It's not totally unusual, but it's just been one thing on top of the other this year for him. It just hasn't been able to progress quite as much as we hoped."
From a bigger picture point of view, Yeo is just one of three Eagles on the club's injury list this late into the season.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, the other two sidelined players are star forwards Oscar Allen (calf/Achilles/knee) and Jake Waterman (shoulder), who have been ruled out of playing again this year.
"I want to give a shoutout to our medical team; they are doing an incredible job," McQualter said.
"We have three players unavailable for selection. Unfortunately, we've had two retire, and those three (injured players) are pretty important.
"That's footy though. That's the challenge of it. On the whole, we're really healthy."
West Coast's run home continues this weekend with a trip to South Australia to face Port Adelaide on Sunday afternoon at 4:40pm (AEST).
