Melbourne AFL coach Simon Goodwin says Jesse Hogan's season-ending foot injury isn't related to a series of foot problems that have hampered the Demons this year.
Hogan was this week ruled out for the season after scans revealed a small stress fracture in the navicular bone following their loss to Sydney
Co-captain Jack Viney has only managed seven games this season because of persistent foot problems and is currently sidelined with early signs of bone stress in his toe.
Billy Stretch (toe) is also out for the remainder of 2018 while swingman Tom McDonald had similar issues early in the season.
While the club said earlier in the season it would assess training loads and programs due to the spate of injuries, Goodwin said he wanted to make it clear that Hogan's injury was different.
"We need to really knock that one on the head," Goodwin said on Thursday.
"That was a specific incident with Hoges and it had nothing to do with (training) loads.
"He had a specific incident in a game that he was aware of and we assessed it, we got the scans and it obviously came back with a partial, small fracture to his navicular.
"That had nothing to do with loads - that's completely irrelevant to some of the other issues we might have had earlier in the year."
Emerging forward Sam Weideman is set to benefit from the loss of Hogan, with Goodwin saying there will be at least three changes to their side to take on West Coast in a must-win clash on Sunday.
Jake Melksham (hamstring) and Michael Hibberd (quad) are also to return for the Perth match.
"Sam's VFL form has been outstanding so we've been working toward getting him to this position to come in and play a key role for us.
"His form indicates he's ready for the opportunity," Goodwin said of the 21-year-old.
"He's worked really hard to put his body in a position where it can handle the demands of AFL footy and we've seen a huge change in his physical capabilities.
"He's launching at ball incredibly well in the VFL."
