West Coast coach John Worsfold has no regrets about axing forward ace Quinten Lynch despite the Eagles' out-of-sorts attack costing them the AFL win against Port Adelaide on Saturday night.

The Eagles entered their forward 50m zone on 60 occasions compared to the Power's 37 but still lost the game by three points, 13.11 (89) to 12.14 (86) in front of 37,010 stunned fans at Subiaco Oval.

West Coast's forward line, minus the injured Mark LeCras and surprise omission Lynch, struggled for fluency despite the best efforts of Josh Kennedy, who bagged four goals.

Worsfold defended his decision to axe Lynch and hinted the 27-year-old, who is scheduled to line up for WAFL club West Perth on Monday, was a long shot to return for Saturday's crucial clash with North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.

"We picked the side for where we want to go," Worsfold said.

"Quinten's got areas of his game he has to work on to become the player that we need.

"He's been aware of those things for a few years and still hasn't addressed them so he needs to show he can fix those areas to become a good enough player to help us go forward.

"At this stage (Mitchell) Brown will play forward with Kennedy, and our rucks will go forward at times, and that will be our set-up.

"We are building something to go forward and until Quinten's earned his spot back in his side and worked on those areas we'll stick with what we've got.

"That doesn't mean Quinten can't force his way back into the side if he's good enough."

Worsfold said he was unsure whether LeCras would recover from his hamstring soreness in time to tackle the Kangaroos, while the Eagles could be without Shannon Hurn for several weeks after the star defender was reported for his heavy bump on Port Adelaide's Paul Stewart.

Stewart was knocked unconscious by the hip and shoulder and suffered a suspected broken nose.

And to compound West Coast's woes, utility Mark Nicoski is set for another lengthy stint on the sidelines after injuring his troublesome right shoulder.

Ruckman Dean Cox looked set to join the growing casualty list when he limped off midway through the third quarter unable to bend his right leg but the complaint turned out to be just cramp.

"He cramped early in the game so that's something he needs to address with our dietitian whether he had his fluid intake right and what it was," Worsfold said.

"We know he's nowhere near his peak fitness yet but to cramp that early in the game made it pretty tough for us."

Worsfold felt his team's wayward delivery into the forward 50m was the main reason behind the club's second loss of the season.

"Some of our players thought maybe we were playing in our away strip, our new clash strip which is white," he said.

"Some of the players kicking the ball in was just very, very poor.

"That's not acceptable at AFL level."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP