Fremantle has suffered an injury blow on the eve of their finals campaign, with a defender going down early against Carlton.

Brennan Cox could only get through the first term of the Dockers’ dead rubber clash against the Blues at Marvel Stadium before leaving the field and sitting on the bench with ice on his calf.

The injury occurred in an innocuous incident after Cox spoiled a mark and chased up the crumbs.

After gathering the footy and dishing it off on the wing, he came straight to the bench and indicated he needed medical attention, limping on his left leg.

The Dockers had already rested three key players, Jye Amiss, Heath Chapman and Sam Switkowski, for the trip to Melbourne in a bid to ensure the group was as healthy as possible come their qualifying final at Optus Stadium in a fortnight’s time.

And given they sewed up the minor premiership last week, and Carlton had booked a wildcard berth with last week’s draw against Western Bulldogs, there was next to no importance on the result of the game.

Fortunately for the Dockers, Oscar McDonald had held his spot in the team, moving forward in Amiss’ absence and was able to swing him back to cover Cox, with Mason Cox getting more forward time after a strong start to the contest.

This is not the first time a calf injury has hampered Cox this season, with the defender having a delayed start to pre-season.

He also missed a few games through the back-end of the home-and-away campaign with a knee niggle.