FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon is confident his young star Nathan Fyfe can see out the season without shoulder surgery.

Fyfe dislocated his shoulder against the Brisbane Lions in round three, the same shoulder he had reconstructed at the end of 2011.

The 20-year-old had hoped to play against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Friday night, but after consulting a surgeon in Melbourne during the week, was a late withdrawal from Fremantle's line-up.

"He met with the surgeon yesterday, and they just threw a little bit of doubt in for this week, but not [for] next week," Lyon told radio station Triple M in the lead-up to the match.

"Basically, he's not in any pain.

"He was desperate to play tonight, and we wanted him to play and we had him in the team.

"We basically did the team meeting and our doctor and physio said 'you're running a really high risk this week and if you hold off the week we can increase the strength in the shoulder another twenty per cent.'"

On 3AW, Fremantle football manager Chris Bond said the club would make a decision on whether to send Fyfe for surgery on Monday or Tuesday next week.

But Lyon said Fyfe believed he could play on without an operation, having done the same last season.

"He [Fyfe] is really confident, based on last year, obviously I wasn't here, that he can deliver and have a great year," Lyon said.

Nathan Fyfe is a $450,000 midfielder/forward in Toyota AFL Dream Team. Register your team here.