HAWTHORN captain Sam Mitchell believes his side's key midfield figures must regain full fitness if it is going to seriously challenge for this year's premiership.

The Hawks currently have Chance Bateman (corked quad), Jordan Lewis (corked quad) and Ben McGlynn (quad) out of the side, while Shane Crawford (knee) is playing under duress with knee tendonitis.

It was reported in The Age on Tuesday that the latter is relying on painkillers and horse-strength anti-inflammatory gel to get him through games.

Mitchell, 25, said the side would be better for the players' return to full fitness as the finals near.

"We really miss [Crawford's] run when he's not playing," he said on Tuesday.

"We really missed Chance Bateman and Benny McGlynn, who's still injured.

"When we get those guys back, it really gives us more run and you need that because you look at the premiership sides and they're all really good running sides.

"We need that in our game if we're going to be a contender come finals time."

Mitchell said the best-case scenario for Crawford is to play every game, with the 33-year-old now managing the injury from week to week.

"He might miss one here or one there, but certainly the challenge for him is going to be able to string three or four games together, which he hasn't been able to do that regularly over the course of this season," he said.

"But with his treatment, he does take it as professional as the bloke he is, and he does everything he can to get himself right and he's doing that again this week.

"It's a tough one. Tendon injuries are uncertain. It's not like when you do your hamstring and you miss 21 to 24 days.

"It does work differently with different players and it depends on how much blood you can get into the area and how it responds to rest.

"I think he'll get through the rest of this year and then have a month off and see if it recovers well over that off-season break, and see how he goes from there," he added.

"He responded really well a couple of weeks ago to his treatment, and he seems to be going okay so far this week. It's only two days since he played so we're not sure yet.

"Hopefully he'll get up for the Saints game."

Mitchell said Bateman was a chance to play after pulling out of the clash with the Sydney Swans last weekend, while Lewis is hopeful of returning from the injury he sustained against West Coast in round 14.