Geelong have suffered a late blow ahead of Saturday's match against West Coast, with prime tagger Cameron Ling ruled out with a shoulder injury.

Ling copped a blow to the shoulder in last week's win over Melbourne and has been replaced by first-gamer Taylor Hunt, who was pick No.49 in the 2008 national draft.

The Cats will also be without ruckman/forward Tom Hawkins (ankle), with 208cm ruckman Dawson Simpson recalled for his second AFL match.

Geelong coach Thompson was confident Ling would return for next week's clash with Essendon at Etihad Stadium.

"We thought he would have come up but this morning he advised us it (the shoulder) was still quite sore," Thompson said.

"There's nothing structurally wrong, he just copped a pretty heavy knock there last week and his movement is quite restricted, so he hasn't come up to play.

"(With both Ling and Hawkins out) it does test our depth.

"We've got six players out of our best 22. It's a fair challenge for our club."

Thompson said either Gary Ablett, Corey Enright or Jimmy Bartel would captain the club in Ling's absence.

Of longer term concern is back-up ruckman Hawkins, who Thompson revealed was battling a hot spot in his foot.

Thompson conceded the 21-year-old, who has struggled with foot problems before, could be grounded for several more weeks.

"It's not stress fractures at this moment but he has got a sore foot and we are really not sure which way we are going to go, whether he's going to continue to play next week or have next week off and then come back after the bye," Thompson said.

"We haven't decided what our plan of attack is but he has got a sore foot.

"It's not that sore that he can't keep playing but we are not sure at this stage what to do.

"There's definitely no fractures there but there is a hot spot.

"He's not that sore and he probably could have easily played but we just want to gather more information and find out the right course of action to take."

The Eagles made three changes to the side that lost to Carlton last week, recalling Mitch Brown, Lewis Stevenson and Bradd Dalziell for Quinten Lynch, Mark Nicoski and Pat McGinnity.

West Coast dropped Quinten Lynch for the second time this season and Thompson admitted he was surprised and thankful for his omission.

"He's such an imposing figure, he's a big man. We are happy he's out," Thompson said.

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