HAWTHORN will be without Ben Stratton and Brad Sewell for Friday night’s blockbuster against Essendon, with the pair still overcoming hamstring injuries.

While the Hawks were hopeful of regaining at least one, or both for Friday night’s clash, the premiership duo will be forced to watch on from the sidelines for a second straight week.

They injured their hamstrings in the final practice match against Melbourne on 8 March.

Elite Performance Manager Andrew Russell confirmed on Tuesday the pair won’t play.

“We’ll get them back into full training next week, and then we’ll see the best way to get them into game play from there,” he told hawthornfc.com.au

“They’re both at a similar stage and they’re progressing really well.”

It means the Hawthorn defence will again be undersized, with Josh Gibson and Kyle Cheney set to hold down the key defensive posts.

At 189cm and 187cm, Gibson and Cheney will face a tall order on Friday night, with Joe Daniher (201cm), Patrick Ryder (196cm), Kyle Hardingham (186cm) and swingman Michael Hurley (193cm) all likely to spend time inside forward 50.

The news is better for veteran ruckman David Hale who trained fully on Tuesday despite appearing to injure his ankle in Saturday’s win over Brisbane.

Hale landed awkwardly in a marking contest during the second quarter of the 48-point victory but is certain to play in Friday night’s blockbuster.

“He pulled up fine; he trained today and did the whole session,” Russell said.