Manly are confident Daly Cherry-Evans will fight off an ankle concern in time to face the Wests Tigers in their crucial clash at Lottoland.

Cherry-Evans didn’t train with the Sea Eagles on Monday, after he briefly went down injured in the first half of Manly’s shock loss to the Warriors on Friday night before playing on.

Manly will next return to the paddock for a light run on Wednesday, however weekend scans cleared him the No.7 of any serious damage and he is expected to play after Monday’s rest.

“He wasn’t (training Monday), but he should be fine,” second-rower Joel Thompson said.

“We’ve played without him before and got the job done but obviously he is a world-class player. It’s up to him and the medical staff to see if he’s up to play.

“He’s tough for a halfback. He’s the ultimate professional, he’ll get it all ready and hopefully we will get him right for Thursday.”

Thursday’s game is vital for Manly’s pursuit of a top four spot.

Their loss to the Warriors was virtually nullified by the defeats of rivals South Sydney and Canberra on Sunday, but Manly still need all to go in their favour to earn a second bite at the cherry come the finals.

They will also have to do it the hard way, with Curtis Sironen (hamstring) set to miss at least this week against his former club and centre Brad Parker (knee) out for at least a fortnight.

But after enduring an opening half of the season where they were ravaged by injuries, Manly are confident they have the depth to handle their absences.

“They’re big losses. Two guys that have been playing some decent footy,” Thompson said.

“But in saying that we’ll have guys who will come in and do a big job for us. We’ve had that through the year. That’s part of footy.”