West Coast will be without their three best forwards for the most crucial part of their home-and-away season after Mark LeCras became the latest to succumb to injury.
LeCras will be sidelined for a yet-to-be-determined period after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his injured right wrist on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old, who underwent surgery on the same wrist earlier in his career, suffered the injury during last week’s AFL loss to Essendon.
West Coast forward Jack Darling (ankle) is still at least three weeks away from resuming, while fellow spearhead Josh Kennedy (leg) will miss between two to three more weeks.
Kennedy (29 goals), Darling (28) and LeCras (22) are West Coast’s leading goalkickers this year.
The Eagles (10-3) have slipped to third spot following consecutive losses.
Their top-four hopes will go on the line during the next few weeks when they take on the Crows (away), GWS (home) and Collingwood (away).
Simpson was unsure how long LeCras will be sidelined.
“We’re just waiting on results – specialists and scans and all those sort of things,” Simpson said.
“(His wrist) is a bit loose. We’ll let that settle down and see what comes from it. It’s a bit early to tell what the damage is.
“It’s disappointing. We’re losing forwards left, right and centre, and he was one with plenty of experience for us. So we’ve just got to find another way.
“Every club goes through certain stages throughout the year when they’re hit with some challenges, and this is our turn.”
Simpson swung All-Australian defender Jeremy McGovern into attack during the final quarter against Essendon last week.
But with defender Tom Barrass (back) still injured, Simpson might be reluctant to leave McGovern in attack for a whole game.
Former Cat Nathan Vardy and ex-Port midfielder Brendon Ah Chee are options for Simpson to bring into the side to add extra marking power in attack.
Adelaide are set to receive long-overdue good news on the injury front, with Rory Sloane, Tom Lynch, Rory Laird and Luke Brown a chance to return.