West Coast forward Ben McKinley is set for an indefinite stint on the sidelines after succumbing to a shoulder injury.

Confusion reigned at the Eagles with assistant coach Peter Sumich initially revealing the 21-year-old would undergo surgery and miss two to three weeks.

But West Coast sent out a statement afterwards saying McKinley would not go under the knife.

McKinley, who suffered the injury during the opening quarter of West Coast's round eight loss to North Melbourne, played through the pain in the following two weeks against Adelaide and Collingwood.

But his performances suffered as a consequence, with his five-possession, one-goal outing against the Pies resulting in his omission for last week's loss to Sydney.

Sumich said it was a combination of poor form and the injury that led to his axing from the senior side.

McKinley, taken with pick No.29 in the 2005 National draft, has played nine games for the Eagles, including eight this season.

He kicked four goals against Sydney in round four and followed that up with a five-goal haul against Port Adelaide a week later - a performance which earned him a rising star nomination.

Meanwhile, Sumich dismissed any suggestions the Eagles, languishing in 13th spot on the ladder with a 2-9 record, would 'tank' for the remainder of the season in order to collect a high draft pick.

"That's one thing I give John (coach John Worsfold) credit for - it's all about winning," Sumich said.

"Nobody likes to lose and we want to win. We want to win this week.

"We wouldn't have been eight goals to two (up) and had a crack at Sydney if we didn't want to win. We wanted to win that game.

"The players put up a great show. We are going out this week and we want to beat the Bombers."

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