CAMPERDOWN’S task against in-form Warrnambool has grown more difficult with three quality players set to miss on Saturday.
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The Magpies will be without captain Jacob Mahony (sore knee), young gun Billy Arnold (groin) and previous club best and fairest winner Luke Clarke (hamstring) for the Hampden league round four showdown at Leura Oval.
Camperdown coach Phil Carse expects to see them back within a couple of weeks, but admitted it was not an ideal time to lose players of their standing with the prospect of a Warrnambool team, fresh off a good win against Koroit, looming.
But he was pleased with the players he was able to bring in.
“Those games against the top sides, we’d like to roll out our best, but at the same time, we’ve had some guys in the reserves and under 18s playing some terrific footy, so it’s really good to give them an opportunity,” he said.
Former captain Damien Pemberton was picked for his first senior game of the season after a delayed start with a niggling calf injury.
Carse said the experienced midfielder eased his way back with two games in the reserves. Lachie Seed, who was recruited from Geelong and District league club Inverleigh, has been named in the best each week in the reserves, and will join the Magpies’ 2015 best first-year player Lachie Bone as the pair make their first senior appearances for the season.
Carse is expecting a tough, fast-paced game against a team he views as the yardstick of the competition.