West Coast football boss Gavin Bell says Jack Williams cleared of serious injury after training mishap

Young West Coast forward Jack Williams remains in hospital but has been cleared of a serious injury after an incident at training on Tuesday. There were concerns Williams, 19, may have punctured a lung and he was rushed to hospital, where he remains as doctors look to rule out any other internal injuries. It’s a blow for the Eagles, who are already set to be without spearhead Jack Darling until round one at the earliest after he injured his ankle in match simulation on Friday. Williams booted two goals in the same session and was impressive as a forward-ruck as he looks to add to the one senior game he played last year. It’s understood Williams is recovering well and is set to miss four to six weeks. Eagles general manager of football Gavin Bell said Williams was doing well but had to remain in the hospital for further testing. “It was quite an innocuous knock in a tackling drill, but it must have just hit him in a vulnerable spot,” Bell told SEN. “The reports we have is his lung is OK. There’s one or two other injuries internally they will monitor and work their way through. “Our staff made sure we got Jack into the best possible care that he could have. “By all accounts he’s doing OK… we just need to take our time with it.” Bell said Darling would return to the club in the coming days where staff would begin to work through a rehab program as they try to get him back on the park by their season opener against North Melbourne on March 18. “I would suggest he would have been in a moon boot to protect him while they work exactly was going on,” he said. Bell also revealed premiership defender Liam Duggan had minor surgery on his troublesome knee before Christmas but said he’d be in the mix for round one. “We would envisage seeing Duggo continue to build this week and hopefully play some minutes,” Bell said. “I would suggest that Duggo would be in the mix (for round one) for sure. It’s just about how these next 30-odd days until round one (go). “We will give him the best chance so if he’s fit and healthy and feeling good within himself, he’s a very good player for us and we love what Duggo brings to the team, so if he’s in the right spot for it all he’ll definitely be strongly considered.”