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Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has refused to confirm whether skipper Max Gawn has a broken toe, but has declared he will play in Friday night\u2019s semi-final against Carlton.<\/p>\n
As the pressure intensifies on the Demons, it\u2019s emerged Gawn is carrying an injury, although it\u2019s unclear if he was hurt during the qualifying final defeat to Collingwood last Thursday. On a tough night for the Demons, he became the first ruckman to have 10 clearances and 10 inside 50s in a game. He also had 27 disposals.<\/p>\n
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Max Gawn will carry an injury into Friday night\u2019s semi-final against Carlton, but his coach wouldn\u2019t confirm if that injury was a broken toe.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n The six-time All-Australian remains arguably the Demons\u2019 most important player, and will be needed at his best in front of a sold-out MCG on Friday if the Demons are to avoid a straight-sets finals exit for the second time in as many seasons.<\/p>\n Goodwin would not discuss specifics on Tuesday, only saying Gawn and Clayton Oliver, nursing knee soreness, would train fully.<\/p>\n \u201cI think every player is carrying certain things at certain times of the year, but this isn\u2019t something that is going to slow either of these two down. They had a light day the other day, but they will train fully today in preparation for the game,\u201d Goodwin said.<\/p>\n The Demons have much to consider, for young key forward Jacob van Rooyen will also miss the match, having been suspended for one match.<\/p>\n They could turn to ruckman-forward Brodie Grundy, forward Josh Schache or Ben Brown, the latter set to fully complete training this week.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing is off the table. It\u2019s still very early in the week. I am sure there will be some questions about the forward line and Jacob van Rooyen not playing.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we have done through the whole year is find a way to score through our forward line,\u201d Goodwin said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have had some real interruptions in the forward half of the ground, and that is no different currently. We will come up with a plan, we will come up with a method, we will come up with the personnel to maximise what we have got.\u201d<\/p>\n The Demons are already missing Jake Melksham (knee), Harrison Petty (foot) and James Harmes (hamstring).<\/p>\n The Demons do need to improve the manner in which they look to score. They managed just 7.11 from 62 forward-50 entries against the Magpies. In the final term, they had 19 entries, but reaped only 3.2 from seven shots.<\/p>\n The Blues and Demons have met twice this season, the Demons prevailing by 17 points in round 12, and the Blues hanging on for a four-point win in round 22 amid a controversial score review.<\/p>\n