Cameron Stokes (hamstring) is out, although Hawthorn football manager Mark Evans doesn’t expect the forward to be sidelined for too long, while Hodge’s injury was the big talking point for the reigning premier this week.

"Hodgey’s played sore for the last three or four weeks," Evans told hawthornfc.com.au.

"We decided we’d try to break the cycle and just give him a rest. Plus he ended up being ill at the start of this week so we weren’t really able to see whether he’d progressed too far.

"So it’s just better to give him a rest and let him come back when he’s right."

Coach Alastair Clarkson flagged a potential two-to-four week absence for Hodge, who is battling an adductor strain, but Evans was hesitant to put a time-frame on the star defender.

"Knowing Hodgey, I wouldn’t write him off too far into the future … we’ll just have to wait and see how he goes," he said.

The two changes means an ongoing shuffle of the Hawks' backline this season.

Evans acknowledged his club would prefer a more settled line-up and the importance of trying "to consolidate a little over the next month".

He added the club held no long-term fears regarding full back Stephen Gilham’s injury – which remains a week-to-week proposition – but said the experience gained by less experienced players was invaluable.

"Some of those players are still learning their roles," he said.

"So we’re quite happy with the progress they’ve made across the year but it’s not easy to replace key position players that have been in your team for quite a while, like Trent (Croad) and Stephen."

A bonus for the Hawks this week has been the selection of Chance Bateman, who seemed doubtful after leaving the field against the Bombers last week.

"He felt tight early in the game and still managed to play over a half," Evans said.

"As it was we were being precautionary during the game because we were being more fearful, but the scans showed very little and he was certainly able to train during the week, so that’s a good sign."

While many believe Hawthorn, with a 3-4 record after seven rounds, faces a must-win situation, Evans said the club was more concerned with re-visiting a good brand of football.

"Every game’s important but the biggest thing for us is: can we return to playing football to the level that we’re proud of?" he said.

"We don’t think we’ve hit those straps yet this year and that’s proved in the ladder. The challenge for us is to get back playing good footy.

"Once we get back to playing good footy we’ll start to put some consistency and wins together."