Fremantle are crossing their fingers that the calf injury suffered by experienced defender Brennan Cox’s calf during Saturday’s loss to Carlton isn’t serious, but are expecting to be without him for at least the upcoming qualifying final.

Cox hobbled from the field late in the first quarter and took no further part in the match. The 28-year-old has had a frustrating season with injuries at the start of the year, and then the club rested him for two weeks during July in an attempt to have him fit for the finals.

But he must now wait for the results of scans before knowing whether his finals dream is alive. The Dockers will have next weekend off as part of Wildcard Round, but Cox has less than a fortnight to get himself healthy for the qualifying final.

“I feel for Coxy,” coach Justin Longmuir said.

“He’s had an interrupted year, and he’s been battling to get back to his best fitness and form. We saw evidence of that. But he’s been stopped again, so it’s disappointing

“He’s upset, but he’s putting on a brave face and making sure he’s giving good energy to the group.

“There’s hope. He just felt something go in his calf. We’ll get it scanned and work out what the damage is. The chances are that he probably misses the first final. But there’s hope behind that”

The injury left Fremantle one man down against a Carlton team that was motivated to rise up the ladder and keep their chances alive to remain in Victoria for the Wildcard game. The Blues won 18.11 (119) to 12.10 (92) at Marvel Stadium despite Fremantle kicking the first four goals.

The Dockers rested Jye Amiss, Heath Chapman and Sam Switkowski, didn’t consider Murphy Reid after a recent blow to the groin and rotated their stars heavily throughout the day.

Caleb Serong, Andrew Brayshaw, Alex Pearce, Shai Bolton, Alex Pearce, Hayden Young and Luke Jackson all had reduced game time.

Fremantle’s dominant season has meant they have spent the latter part of the year managing players and waiting for the finals while other teams have been fighting for the chance to play in September.

Longmuir admitted it had been a challenge to stop players from thinking of the future but he is confident they are ready to play at their best when it really matters.

“It’s been a real challenge because we’ve known for a while that top two has probably been sewn up. Largely, I’ve been proud of the players and how we’ve been able to stay in the moment,” he said.

“I’ve noticed that during the week we’ve been really diligent in making sure that we’re present with what we’re trying to do at any one time. But I think there is five or 10 per cent where the edge does come off, and maybe today they saw Coxy go down, and that maybe takes a couple of per cent off as well.

“It doesn’t take much in this game to just be a little bit off, and you start losing a few contests and fumbling a few balls. All of a sudden, you get what you get. But largely, I’ve been really proud of the way the players have been able to stay in the moment.

“If you looked across the course of the season, there’s probably been no more consistent team than us. Today was clearly our biggest loss, but I think our players should take a lot of belief that our footy stacks up, and they’ve been able to show that more often than they haven’t this year.”