West Coast will go into Saturday night's AFL match against the Swans without vice-captain Andrew Embley, who is ill.

Embley, the Norm Smith Medallist when the Eagles beat Sydney by a point in the 206 grand final, did not join the team on their flight east for the ANZ Stadium clash.

"Embley was unwell on Thursday morning and as such the club decided against flying him to Sydney," the Eagles said in a statement.

The Eagles are already without in-form midfielder Matt Priddis (knee) and David Wirrpanda (hamstring) and have dropped Brad Ebert, Chad Fletcher and Mark Nicoski.

Embley was named in West Coast's 22-man side on Thursday.

Steven Armstrong, Jamie McNamara, Matt Rosa and Chris Masten were promoted and Matt Spangher will be the fourth Eagle this year to make his senior debut.

All-Australian ruckman Dean Cox was included despite injuring his foot in last week's loss to Fremantle.

The struggling Eagles, 13th on the ladder with a 1-2 (win-loss) start, can bring in one of their three emergencies, Ebert, Josh Kennedy or Nicoski, to replace wingman Embley.

The Eagles will train at ANZ Stadium on Friday while the fourth-placed Swans will have a light recovery session after training at the stadium on Thursday night.

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