Fremantle AFL defender Roger Hayden will spend at least another day in hospital after suffering complications from a collapsed lung.

Hayden was admitted to hospital on Sunday night after sustaining the injury during the Dockers' three-point loss to the Bulldogs.

The 27-year-old was initially due to be released on Monday but a club spokesman said Hayden had suffered complications and his lung still needed to be inflated.

Hayden will miss the next three to five weeks of football, while youngster Marcus Drum will undergo scans on his injured hamstring on Tuesday to determine his availability for Saturday's clash against Carlton at Telstra Dome.

Defender Antoni Grover, who has missed the club's past two games with a quad injury, will be tested at training on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Fremantle coach Mark Harvey says his team must learn how to win without relying on star forward Matthew Pavlich to lift them over the line.

Pavlich, who has kicked 26 goals in eight games this season, was again forced to abandon his forward posting in order to help out the club's ailing midfield during Sunday's heartbreaking loss to the Bulldogs.

The Dockers held an 18-point lead midway through the final quarter when Pavlich booted his fourth goal of the match but, as the Dogs charged back into the game, the Fremantle skipper was ordered into the middle to halt the onslaught.

Harvey believed the Dockers had an unhealthy reliance on Pavlich to win games.

"That's the problem, we just solely go back to Pav and what he can do to arrest the situation," Harvey told Fairfax radio.

"We've got to evolve ... the opposition are quite happy to see Matthew Pavlich out of the forward 50.

"He can make that decision himself (of when he goes into the midfield). So there's always that balancing act when you are under that duress in the last quarter."

Despite leading Geelong by 39 points in round six, Melbourne by 51 points in round seven and the Bulldogs by 18 points in round eight, the Dockers capitulated to lose all three games.

"It's what's been a common trend, our inability to handle the last quarter and being outscored quite easily in that particular part of the game," Harvey said.

"That's the disappointing part, we seem to actually put three quarters together. Against all the top-four sides we've been in winning positions but haven't been able to put them away."

Asked whether the Dockers had choked in recent weeks, Harvey replied: "That word got used a lot over the weekend."

"I think the desperation of the competition and the pressure - it gets to everyone. And sometimes, particularly when you've got some young players, to hold composure in the last quarter can sometimes be a bit awkward and we aren't doing it at the moment."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP