A week way from the AFL limelight has done nothing to lift the gloom around West Coast, although fears young forward Chad Jones had broken an ankle at training on Friday morning have been allayed.

A training session ended in agony for the young forward, and the coaches looking on, as an innocuous jog-and-drop drill led to him tripping over a teammate and failing to rise from the turf.

Jones was stretchered off with his right leg held straight and aloft, taken to hospital to assess the injury further with fears a fractured ankle would end the forward's season.

But x-rays in fact instead revealed a severe sprain, which will keep the 23 year-old off the park for at least a month.

Jones' injury, although not as serious as first thought, is still another blow to the beleaguered Eagles, whose 1-6 start is the second worst in their history.

Establishing himself in the side before this week's bye for the Dream Team game, Jones had kicked three goals in the Eagles' round seven loss to Carlton.

And the latest setback continues a desperate run of injury luck for John Worsfold's men, with Adam Hunter (knee), Shannon Hurn (fractured leg), Mitch Brown (knee) and Mark LeCras (groin) still facing lengthy stints on the sidelines.

One midfield element Worsfold could have back at his disposal next week against the Kangaroos is Matt Priddis, who has not played since the derby loss to Fremantle in round three.

"Next week will tell the story. We are pretty confident, probably 60-40 or 70-30," assistant coach Peter Sumich said.

"Really (all he has to do is he's) got to prove his knee is OK. That's basically it."

"He's a very fit person but he's going to be marginally underdone if he comes in against the Kangaroos.

"I wouldn't expect him to play 100 minutes through the midfield, we would probably have to bring that back to around 80, 85 for the first week or two."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP