Brad Sewell's shoulder injury is worse than first thought, with the Hawthorn midfielder to undergo surgery and miss up to six AFL matches.

His setback continues Hawthorn's bad run of injuries and suspensions so far this season.

The Hawks regained vice-captain Luke Hodge as a natural replacement for Sewell ahead of Saturday night's match against arch-rivals Essendon at Telstra Dome.

While they are top with a 9-1 record, they have been unable to settle their side.

Hawthorn originally thought Sewell would only be out of action for a fortnight after hurting his shoulder in Saturday's loss to the Western Bulldogs.

But it later emerged he had ruptured the ligaments in his right AC joint.

"Once the specialist indicated Brad was likely to miss three to four weeks, the sensible option was for a surgical repair to deliver a stronger shoulder joint over a five to six week period," Hawks football manager Mark Evans said.

The Hawks will also regain key forward Tim Boyle and have omitted Thomas Murphy.

Coach Alastair Clarkson was philosophical about not being able to settle the side, pointing out several younger players had impressed when given their chance.

"We've really missed Hodgey, but we've missed Timmy Boyle, too, he's been an important part of our forward mix in the last couple of years," Clarkson said.

"We've had a few hiccups with getting our full squad out on the park, but it's been really good for our younger players.

"Xavier Ellis, Tom Murphy, Travis Tuck, Jarryd Morton and Josh Kennedy - these young lads have had opportunities over the course of the year to date.

"We've won nine games, they've performed admirably, those kids.

"At some point in time over the next four to six weeks, we'd be hopeful that we'll start to collect a more senior gathering of players."

Clarkson said the key to last Saturday's first loss of the season was the Bulldogs' better "attitude to win the hard contest".

This would have infuriated Clarkson, who was renowned for his love of the contest as a player and has instilled this fierce ethic since taking over as coach at Hawthorn.

The Hawks will undoubtedly have a tougher attitude on Saturday night and this creates the potential for some on-field fireworks.

While the Bombers are languishing in the bottom four, Clarkson noted that they had been competitive in their last six quarters - the last half of the loss to Richmond and last Friday night's near-upset of Adelaide.

Hawthorn and Essendon have enjoyed a strong rivalry since the early 1980s and Clarkson noted that regardless of the Bombers' lowly status, this will continue on Saturday night.

"There's been a great rivalry between the two clubs for (more than) 20 years now, dating back to the mid-80s, when they were the two best sides," Clarkson said.

"Unfortunately, over the last five or six years, the Hawks and Bombers can't lay claim to being the best two sides in the competition.

"But that hasn't deflected from the intensity of the supporters, actually having a real crack against one another.

"That's good for the game, we're hoping it will be a pretty fierce contest again."

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