West Coast backman Eric Mackenzie is confident the club’s defence will hold firm in Saturday’s AFL western derby against Fremantle despite the absence of skipper Darren Glass.
Glass has been offered a one-match ban by the match review panel for his crunching bump on Brisbane’s Jonathan Brown.
The high hit was deemed reckless conduct, medium impact and high contact, drawing 325 demerit points and a three-game ban.
But his five-year good record and an early guilty plea will reduce the ban to just one match.
Mackenzie was always set to get the job on Pavlich this Saturday irrespective of whether Glass was playing.
Glass remains West Coast’s most important cog in defence, with his ability to help out his teammates proving crucial in helping the Eagles become the fourth most miserly team in the competition.
On average, West Coast concede just 82 points a match, ranking behind only Sydney (69.4), Hawthorn (76.4) and Fremantle (78.4).
Should Glass decide not to contest his ban, 195cm defender Mitch Brown is favoured to earn a recall, while back pocket Jacob Brennan could also come into calculations should the Eagles opt to replace a tall with a small.
Pavlich is one of the form forwards in the competition after booting 33 goals in the past seven weeks to take his season tally to 47.
Mackenzie conceded Glass would be sorely missed as the Eagles attempt to shut down Pavlich and Chris Mayne, but said the West Coast back six would find ways to cope without him.
“He’s a strong leader down there, so we’ll miss him and his ability to nut someone and then help everyone else out,” Mackenzie said.
“But we’ve got blokes to come in. We’ve got Browny to come in and a few others who can come in.”
Rebounding defender Shannon Hurn said the versatility of a backman like Will Schofield meant the Eagles could cover for losses more easily.
“I think our backline is very versatile and very good. We can mix and match blokes pretty well,” Hurn said.
The fifth-placed Eagles are still sweating on the fitness of midfielder Daniel Kerr (hamstring) and ruckman Dean Cox (ankle) after the star duo were injured in Sunday’s 98-point demolition of Brisbane.