Fremantle skipper Nat Fyfe will miss out on Sunday’s upcoming clash against the Saints after missing Thursday's main training session due to lower back pains.
After missing out on round one’s hit out against Adelaide, the captain was set to return to training on Thursday but was absent.
Senior Coach Justin Longmuir confirmed the midfielder’s absence from round two on Thursday morning.
“Fyfe won’t train today,” Longmuir said.
“He has had an issue with his lower back that hasn’t improved the way we wanted it to improve, so we need to do a little bit more diagnosis there.
“He won’t play this week.
“We need to do a bit more digging around and find out the cause, we’ll send him off for a scan.”
Longmuir hopes it will only be a ‘minor setback’ for the two-time Brownlow medallist after recovering from multiple shoulder operations in the off-season.
“At this stage, it’s a minor setback, we just need to make sure we get him right,” Longmuir said.
“As I’ve said all along, we want to make sure when we get him back, he stays back.
“When you have a lower back injury it defers pain to other areas.
“You use your back for a lot of things, especially as an inside mid, so we just need to make sure we get him right.”
The timeframe for Fyfe’s return to the senior side is still unconfirmed at this stage.
