The 2014 Brownlow medallist is nursing a slight thigh strain and nagging hip soreness out of a bruising derby victory over arch enemy Fremantle last Saturday, when the star playmaker was best-afield and collected a second Ross Glendinning Medal.

Priddis, top key defender Eric Mackenzie, another star on-baller Luke Shuey as well as utility Brad Sheppard and hard-nut small forward Jamie Cripps are all racing the clock to recover and take on the embattled Tigers.

Priddis' injury is understood to be minor and the big possession-winning follower is more likely to play, although a week's rest would allow him time to fully recover.

West Coast has a hectic schedule after the Tigers, with a road trip to Sydney for a confrontation in the tight confines of the SCG on the Anzac weekend.

It's then hosting Collingwood on Sunday May 1, before an engagement with the top-four hopeful Cats in Geelong in round seven.

West Coast coach Adam Simpson described the derby clash as "brutal" and is carefully handling a player management juggling act on the back of a second successive six-day recovery program.

"We've got some sore boys, I'll be honest," Simpson said on radio 6PR this week.

"It was a brutal game. This time of year I think you get a lot of players who just feel the pinch a bit after three rounds."

Simpson revealed Mackenzie was likely to continue wearing a moon boot after matches as a precaution and to assist recovery.

The Eagles boss expects his premier backman to play.

Mackenzie has a fractured big left toe that is likely to require pain-killing assistance for the big full-back to play and take on enigmatic Tigers key forward Tyrone Vickery and in-form ruckman Shaun Hampson, when he rests close to goal after his stints on the ball.

Shuey and Sheppard did virtually no training heading into last weekend's derby as they nursed lingering leg complaints.

Shuey has been troubled with ankle and knee soreness for much of the past month after summer injury scares, while the important Sheppard has battled a strain in his left calf that almost forced last year's Eagles player of the finals to miss the derby.

Sheppard got through the derby with heavy strapping and a protective guard on his calf but also copped two head knocks that have been monitored this week by Eagles medical staff.

Cripps has a nasty cork in his left thigh and appears the least likely of any wounded Eagles to miss Friday's game.

Versatile midfielder Mark Hutchings and emerging forward Tom Lamb are the most likely replacements if Priddis or Cripps are forced out through injury.

Hutchings, 24, has not made a senior appearance over the opening three games as he made a full recovery from a hamstring strain.

The disciplined follower played in last year's losing grand final and turned in one of the finest of his 38 AFL games when he was designated to run-with influential Tigers on-baller Trent Cotchin in round 18 of 2014.

Hutchings held the Tigers star to just 15 touches and collected 18 of his own in a direct tagging and lock-down assignment.

Lamb, 19, was a stand-by emergency for the derby after booting four goals with alignment club East Perth a fortnight ago.

He is a tall half-forward with strong marking qualities and looms as an ideal long term goal-kicking prospect, adding further potency to already one of the biggest scoring outfits in the league.

Richmond has lost its  last two outings by six goals to St Kilda last Saturday and by a point in a last-gasp scrambled goal on the siren to staunch rivals Collingwood the week before, leaving heavy scrutiny on the defensive systems of beleaguered coach Damien Hardwick.

The Tigers have won their past three trips into Perth including a bruising victory over West Coast in July two years ago when Vickery copped a four-game for a vicious round-arm strike into the face of champion Eagles ruckman Dean Cox.

History heavily favours a healthy Eagles recovery from traditional derby buffeting, with a strong winning record in home matches a week later.

West Coast has won 68 percent of its engagements at home a week after a bruising encounter with Fremantle, with 15 wins and seven losses since their gruelling mental and physical cross-town confrontations started 21 years ago.

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