Fremantle head into Sunday’s clash against Carlton without one of their main weapons in Nat Fyfe, and Senior Coach Justin Longmuir is looking at ways to mitigate the Blues’ size advantage in the midfield.

Fyfe sustained a stress fracture in his foot against the Western Bulldogs, replaced by substitute Neil Erasmus in the fourth quarter.

The injury may see Erasmus return to the starting 22, while the versatile Luke Jackson could add vital size in the engine room.

“It’s just next man up and see how we can balance the team,” Longmuir said.

“We've lost an important player to us, we've got players that have been playing some really good footy at Peel.

“Neil's been the sub, so we've got some options to come in and make sure we put a well-balanced team out there this week.

“We've been saying all along that we feel like (Jackson) is a good ground level player. We've put him in as a midfielder at times this year so that's an option for sure.”

Longmuir said Fremantle would only consider recalling Will Brodie if he is 100 per cent fit, with the midfielder building after sustaining an ankle injury at training in early June.

“Will's had a pretty interrupted last month in terms of having an ankle injury. Even when he has played, that ankle hasn't been right or good enough to allow him to improve on a few things we need him to improve on,” Longmuir said.

“We’ll make a decision this week, whether we need to give that ankle another week off and get it 100 per cent right, or if he needs another game in the WAFL.

“He's got to get through training and make that call but we need him back at 100 per cent fitness and physical capability before we can consider him.”

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Longmuir said finding the right balance for Jackson’s role would be crucial, with the forward / ruck currently under an injury cloud.

“Carlton are a really good intercept marking team, and when they win it back they bounce pretty quickly,” Longmuir said.

“We need to make sure we're balanced with the way we use Luke.

“We're hoping he will get through training and be able to be our second ruck this week, that'll allow Jye and JT to spend most of their time forward to be able to give us that contest.”

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