Injuries to Rory Neeson and Chris Clarke in Allansford’s 23-point loss to South Rovers on Saturday pushed the club’s walking wounded out to five.

Neeson and Clarke, who were both scheduled to have scans to determine the extent of the injuries, join Justin Fedley (jaw), Dylan Hare (hamstring) and Blair Oakley (ankle) on the sidelines.

Cats mentor Ben Price said while the ballooning casualty list was frustrating, it was beyond the club’s control.

“You can’t do anything about it, but it’s a good test of all of our integrity,” he said.

“We’ll see how we go – we’ll look to get a few of the under 17s up, maybe try to work a few of the reserves guys through – we’ll just see what we come up with.”

Price said while both Neeson and Clarke were withdrawn mid-game, he was unsure how long the duo would spend on the sidelines.

“Chris hyper-extended his knee. Best case scenario would be two weeks, but if it’s a medial it could be six,” the first-year coach said.

“Neeso’s was a knock. Again, it could be a medial. The season-long injuries are what cost you so it’s looking okay on that front.”

With scoring heavily favoured to the Mortlake Road end of Walter Oval, South Rovers managed eight scoring shots in the first term.

The Adam Matheson-coached Rovers led by 25 points at the first change, but Allansford responded to snatch a two-point lead at the main break.

Injuries limited Allansford’s bench rotations and Rovers capitalised to post a 9.10 (64) to 5.11 (43) triumph.

Matheson hailed improved depth and rotations as vital in maintaining the club’s perfect start to the season.

“Instead of running out steam halfway through the last (quarter), we’ve got more options, more depth,” he said.

"It’s good to have some confidence at three quarter time in a close game, that you can go and run the match out and finish well.”

Matheson said the “tough” weather conditions – which included heavy showers and fast winds – made the game “hard to coach”.

“Last week (against Panmure) we probably ticked a few more boxes than we did here, but with conditions such as this it’s hard to coach, hard to play and hard for everyone,” he said.

“But we ticked the main box – getting the win.”