A wounded West Coast knowing it's win or bust for their AFL finals hopes is giving Brisbane coach Chris Fagan plenty to be concerned about.
The Lions are favourites to warm up for the finals with a win at the Gabba on Saturday over an undermanned Eagles still smarting from last weekend's Derby defeat to Fremantle.
Adam Simpson's team head east without Josh Kennedy, Jeremy McGovern, Brad Sheppard, Jack Redden or Tim Kelly and having lost their past two matches against the Lions in Brisbane.
Despite those obstacles, the Eagles simply have to win on Saturday to have any hope of sneaking into the top eight and Fagan says they still boast plenty of players capable to deliver that result if the Lions aren't careful.
"Beware, beware, beware, I'd say. You look at that West Coast team there's still 10 premiership players in that group," Fagan said.
"On top of that (Andrew) Gaff, (Nic) Naitanui and Oscar Allen - Oscar wasn't around at the time of that premiership and the other two boys were injured or suspended - so you could probably say there's 13 guys there that would've played in a premiership.
"They know that if they win, they're still a chance to make finals ... so they're just going to play with a free and open mind and just have a crack so from that perspective it's a dangerous game for us and we need to be on the job.
"We can't just assume that because we're playing at the Gabba and our form's been good that we're just going to go out there and win quite easily, that's not the case."
Fagan has given winger Mitch Robinson an extra week off to rest his calf while Marcus Adams (foot) is among the emergencies as they opt for an unchanged line-up from the one which beat Collingwood last weekend.
Brisbane's top-four hopes hinge on the result of Friday night's clash between Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs, but Fagan said how that match finishes up won't affect his team's approach.
"We've been on a bit of a mission the last couple of weeks to prepare ourselves for finals," he said.
"Whether the Dogs win or lose tonight, we're still preparing ourselves for finals.
"That'll be the attitude that we take, we can't afford to take any less of an attitude than that."
Redden became the latest West Coast star ruled out of the game on Friday when he succumbed to illness.
The Eagles have rushed Jarrod Brander into the 22.
