WEST COAST might’ve been “as flat as a whoopee cushion at a clown convention” last Thursday, but things aren’t as bad as they seem, according to the West Australian chief football writer Mark Duffield and The Sunday Times sports editor Glen Quartermain.

After dismissing the pre-season doomsayers with 10 wins from their first 11 games, the Eagles have plateaued in recent weeks with consecutive losses to Sydney and Essendon.

Adam Simpson’s chargers handed an eight-goal head-start to the Bombers in round 14 and were unable to match their opponents’ intensity in the midfield.

West Coast plays the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Saturday and could slip to fourth spot on the ladder with defeat, given Collingwood’s match-up against the lowly Suns.

But Quartermain is optimistic the Eagles’ dip form is nothing more than a blip on the radar.

“I’m not as concerned as some,” he said.

“I actually think Adelaide will win this week and I’m not panicking about West Coast.

“OK, it might cost them top two, but let’s just divorce ourselves from that at the moment.

“Everyone has one of these shockers and they’ve had theirs. Great sides can overcome that.

“I still think it’s pretty positive for West Coast and that one shocker – they can put that in a box (and) put it aside.

“They’ve got enough credit in the bank now to still finish top for, certainly, and this with a loss this week against Adelaide.”

Injured pillars Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy were sorely missed after quarter time, as West Coast struggled to capitalise on the lopsided 59-45 inside 50 count.

The pair will spend at least another fortnight on the sidelines, placing great responsibility on the shoulders of 20-year-old tall target Jake Waterman.

West Coast resorted to sending Jeremy McGovern forward in the final quarter last weekend, a tactic Quartermaine believes the Eagles should only use in a crisis.

“One thing I don’t want to see is McGovern go permanent forward straight away,” he said.

“OK, your forward line is being smashed because of those two absences, but you don’t want to do the same thing to your defence, particularly with Barrass missing.

“McGovern stays (back) for mine, unless you get to a situation as you did late in the game against Essendon where all hope is lost, let’s just try something out of the box.”

Duffield reserved his concerns for the Eagles’ midfield stocks, which were dealt a hiding by Bombers onballers Zach Merrett, Dyson Heppell, Brendon Goddard and Devon Smith.

Elliot Yeo (22 possessions, 12 tackles), Andrew Gaff (32 possessions, four marks) and Jack redden (26 possessions, six marks) tried hard but lacked support from dynamic on-baller Luke Shuey (18 possessions, seven clearances).

It is the second match in a row Shuey has tallied less than 20 touches after injuring his hamstring against Port Adelaide in round seven.

“I haven’t seen explosiveness from Luke Shuey since he came back off the hamstring so obviously he’s still getting comfortable playing again after that injury,” Duffield said.

Duffield was also quick to point out the importance of Mark LeCras, who hurt his wrist against the Bombers but trained strongly at Monday’s session.

“If they were to go to Adelaide to play Adelaide without Mark Lecras and without Kennedy and without Darling, I’d be tipping Adelaide,” he said.

“LeCras has a good record at Adelaide Oval.”

“LeCras would be a massive in for West Coast (but) he would also be a massive out in the context of them not having Darling or Kennedy.”

Bounce down for the Eagles clash with the Crows is at 2:35, AWST.