Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has expressed his grief over a “traumatic” Friday night for his football club, after four key players went down with injury in their 75-point loss to Geelong.

A suspected serious knee injury to 208cm star forward Sam Darcy during the second quarter of their away clash was the most brutal of the blows for the Dogs, less than a fortnight after the side lost key ruck Tim English to an MCL injury against Essendon on Easter Sunday.

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The side’s key position stocks in particular have taken a savage hit, with defenders Rory Lobb (left hamstring) and James O’Donnell (right hamstring) also expected to miss multiple weeks of football. Cruelly too, a concussion to inside midfielder Tom Liberatore came in the third term, with the veteran having endured a number already throughout his 261-game career.

Speaking to journalists post-game, Beveridge was fully transparent on the toll the injuries took on his players as the game wore on and the scoreboard deficit grew.

“Coming to terms is probably something for tomorrow I think. We’re trying to process it on two fronts. The carnage, it’s pretty traumatic,” Beveridge began.

“I was pleased with the players through different patches for two to two-and-a-half quarters. They were able to at least steady things a bit as they’re losing teammates.

“Some of the young guys were exposed to that, and it was difficult for them, but I thought they held up okay.

Fears for Darcy after suspected ACL | 01:55

“The way we played, the way we started the game … we were on the back foot. Geelong’s contested game and the pressure they put on us, we didn’t manage it too well.

“When you consider they kicked eight and a half goals and 32 forward half turnovers, a lot of that was just blatant stuff from us. It was hurtful, and hence that leads to so many times when our backs couldn’t defend those balls.”

On top of English and the quartet of injuries on Friday night, new recruit Connor Budarick and small forward Artie Jones have also been forced to the sidelines with hamstring injuries.

The night to forget at GMHBA Stadium reminded the Bulldogs head coach of a similarly crude night back in his second year of coaching at Whitten Oval, where key players in Mitch Wallis (broken leg), Dale Morris (hamstring) and Jack Redpath (ACL rupture) all went down with injury in Round 18, 2016 against St Kilda.

“We had one when we lost Mitch Wallis and Jack Redpath in the one night, when the players were in a bit of trouble with that … it was a bit of a contrast for our players to hold up when Sam went down with what could be a serious knee injury,” Beveridge recalled.

“As I just said to the players after the game, it’s important that we process the things that we weren’t executing well at the start of the game, and come together during the week for a venom for the next challenge. But, it’s been a really traumatic night.

“We won’t get a hell of a lot of opportunities to train it, but we’ll obviously need to make sure there’s a cohesion in the 23 that’s picked next week, and an awareness of what we need to do well together.”

Speaking specifically to Darcy’s injury, Beveridge told the media: “I just gave him a pat as I came past. I haven’t spoken to him … as you know, last time when he hyperextended his knee, we thought that was going to be a season-ending situation. It ended up being a lot less than that, so it’s too early to actually know and be too morbid about it.”

The 22-year-old forward had an ‘impaction fracture’ at the front of the knee during last year’s 71-point thrashing of St Kilda in Round 6 last year, after initial fears he had torn his ACL.

Beveridge noted that the defensive duo of Jedd Busslinger and Ryan Gardner played well in their VFL win over Geelong on Friday evening, and at this stage look likeliest to replace Lobb and O’Donnell down back.

The Bulldogs’ run doesn’t get any easier next week, as they host ladder-leaders Sydney at Marvel Stadium next Thursday night.