West Coast co-captain Oscar Allen ruled out of Good Friday clash with Essendon

West Coast have confirmed that co-captain Oscar Allen will not play in the Good Friday clash against Essendon at Optus Stadium.

Allen was not present at Eagles training on Wednesday, with the club saying he was being managed amid a stretch of consecutive six-day breaks with travel involved.

But the spearhead also failed to make an appearance for Thursday’s session, with the club confirming he will be managed out for the clash.

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“Oscar has had a heavy workload and played more AFL minutes than any of our players, and we anticipated we would need to manage him in the near future,” football boss Gavin Bell said.

“This week with back-to-back six-day breaks and following travel was the right time to give him a break to freshen up.”

In addition to the club’s two short breaks, there are also lingering concerns over Allen’s fitness as knee injuries restricted him to 11 games last year.

It’s a massive blow with the Eagles looking to avoid extending their worst ever start in history to 0-6.

The 26-year-old has had a horror start to the season, with just four goals from his five games while averaging a career low 7.2 disposals per game.

His lack of on-field form has been compounded by off-field drama after his meeting with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell after their round three derby loss led some to call for him to resign as captain.

Allen apologised in a press conference, reaffirming his desire to remain at the Eagles, but it brought little improvement on the field as the club slumped to hefty defeats against GWS and Carlton.

It led to scathing criticism from former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, saying the lack of on-field leadership at the Eagles was damning.

“Oscar Allen has been well speculated on, but he’s just not playing great footy. The contest isn’t consistent, it isn’t sustained,” he said on SEN.

“The gap and the dearth of leadership on-field at that football club, I cannot fathom.”

Friday’s match would have been Allen’s first in front of West Coast’s home fans since details of his meeting with Mitchell emerged.

It means Allen’s return fixture will likely be against Mitchell’s Hawthorn outfit at Marvel Stadium in round seven, with the Eagles to return home to face Melbourne the following week.

- With The West Australian

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