Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson admits it would be "foolish" to rush defender Trent Croad back into the senior side without a stint in the VFL, but such is the Hawks' AFL plight they will consider it.

Croad has been a frustrated spectator since breaking his foot in last year's grand final win over Geelong, a series of setbacks delaying his comeback.

Barring any further misfortune, the 222-game veteran could be ready for a return in as little as two weeks.

And with the Hawks' precariously placed with a 6-6 record, Clarkson said the coaching staff remained undecided about the venue.

"Our challenge for him returning to senior footy is whether he comes back via Box Hill or whether he goes straight into our senior side," Clarkson told reporters in Melbourne on Friday.

"Our senior side certainly needs his presence down there but it would be foolish perhaps to put him there straight away.

"But we'll just have to wait and see what players are available for us at the time he's available to play.

"It (his playing return) could be two weeks or it could be six weeks but that will be determined by how well he pulls up from his training sessions over the next couple of weeks.

"It's been nearly 12 months since he's played.

"He's done about four or five skills sessions with the players and he'll step it up again next week."

While Croad is yet to reach full fitness, Hawthorn welcomes back premiership defenders Rick Ladson and Stephen Gilham for Saturday night's crunch clash with West Coast at Subiaco Oval.

Youngster Brendan Whitecross has also been recalled while Travis Tuck, Brent Renouf and Ryan Schoenmakers have been omitted.

The Eagles also made three changes, including Andrew Embley, Sam Butler and Ben McKinley to replace Dean Cox (groin), Mark Nicoski (back) and Jamie McNamara (omitted).

Clarkson was confident the recent return of several key players had left the club in good stead for the remainder of the season.

"Our big challenge is getting those guys some match conditioning and getting them back into the sort of form that we need them into the latter half of the season," he said.

"The side that we were putting out there last year in terms of our back six was certainly different to this year but that's given other guys opportunities and presented them with some challenges.

"Hopefully we'll benefit as a club sometime in the future - and hopefully that'll be in the last 10 rounds of the season."

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