Injuries have proven a hurdle at every step of Sydney’s AFL premiership defence.

it will be no different this week when the club’s medical staff work overtime in an effort to get Kurt Tippett fit for Saturday’s preliminary final against Fremantle.

The battered Swans had every reason to feel euphoric after their 24-point semi-final win over Carlton, in which they proved far too classy despite being a man down for the final three quarters after early injuries to Tippett (knee) and Tom Mitchell (ankle).

Their reward is a cross-country flight to Perth for a bruising battle with a side renowned for relentless pressure.

It will be a tough ask of Tippett, who was on crutches in the rooms after his night ended in the seventh minute against the Blues, but also for the handful of Swans who didn’t have a single break in the taxing second half.

“We had a light week last week and I thought it really benefited the players. Obviously we’ll have a lighter week this week,” Swans coach John Longmire said.

“We were down on rotations for the majority of the game.”

Longmire seemed relatively positive about Tippett’s chances of playing the Dockers, compared to Mitchell.

“Kurt did something similar to what Macca (Jarrad McVeigh) did to his fibula last week,” Longmire said.

“I don’t know what that means for next week. Macca was able to play. I’m not sure if you are 105kg what difference that makes.

“Tommy’s ankle looks pretty bad so he would have to be in doubt.”

Adam Goodes (knee) and Sam Reid (quad) are out for the season, so there is nothing resembling a like-for-like replacement for Tippett.

Gary Rohan and Ben McGlynn (calf) are the likely inclusions.

Dual premiership player Lewis Roberts-Thomson (knee) hasn’t played since round four, but the veteran has trained well for weeks and could potentially be called on if he pulls up well after playing for the reserves on Sunday.

“But obviously that’s only his first game (back). We’ll sit down and work it out,” Longmire said.

The win over Carlton was all the more meritorious given substitute Lewis Jetta was also underdone, having only returned last week after missing 12 games due to a shin injury.

“We were originally throwing it up early in the week – did he need to play an 80-90 minute game in the reserves? But we decided to make him the sub,” Longmire said.

“He ended up playing 75 or 80 minutes in the seniors and pulled up well, so that’s great preparation for him.”