Star Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson insists the side won’t panic even if skipper Michael Clarke is ruled out for an extended period.

Clarke’s immediate future is in doubt after he suffered a recurrence of his left hamstring issues in Friday’s one-day win over South Africa at the WACA Ground.

The 33-year-old suffered his latest setback in innocuous fashion while batting, meaning he has now tweaked his left hamstring three times since August.

Clarke is set to miss the rest of the ODI series against South Africa, and he faces a race against time to be fit for the first Test against India, starting on December 4.

And with the 50-over World Cup just three months away, Clarke is in danger of missing the showpiece event if he keeps suffering more setbacks.

Vice-captain George Bailey will skipper the side in Sunday’s second one-dayer at the WACA.

Although Johnson admitted Clarke’s absence was a blow, he said the team would be able to cope without him – even at an event such as the World Cup.

“George has done really well as a one-day captain, so he’s as prepared as he can be if that happens,” Johnson said.

“It’s unfortunate for Michael to have this injury.

“But George has been captain for the Australian team in a few of the formats and has done very well in the one-day stuff. He quite enjoys it and we back him 100 per cent.

“But Michael will be doing everything he can to be the captain for the Australian team at the World Cup.”

Clarke will undergo scans on Saturday to determine the extent of the damage.

Australia are 1-0 up in the current series after beating the Proteas by 32 runs in a topsy-turvy match in Perth.

Bailey was dropped four times on his way to 70 in Australia’s total of 8-300, before paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile snared 4-48 to dismiss South Africa for 268.