Fremantle has made two changes for Sunday’s game against Greater Western Sydney, with stars Matthew Pavlich and Michael Johnson returning to the side.

The players out of the team were Luke McPharlin and Garrick Ibbotson, who both have calf injuries.

The emergencies for the Patersons Stadium game will be Hayden Crozier, Matt Taberner and Alex Pearce.

Freo general manager of football operations Chris Bond said McPharlin’s injury was minor, but Ibbotson could miss a few weeks.

“Both players pulled up a bit sore from the game in Darwin and it tended to get worse throughout the course of the week,” he said.

“Scans came back to show there’s been some damage in their calves.

“For Luke, it’s quite minor, we’re expecting that he can hopefully get through training next week and put his hand up for the game in Melbourne.

“With Garrick, we’re going to have to wait and see. It might be a few weeks injury, but he’s very committed to his rehab and we’re hoping that he can do everything right and get back sooner.”

The loss of the defensive duo was tempered by the return of All Australian Johnson.

“Michael’s obviously a very important player to our team and will be an important player for the rest of the year,” Bond said.

“He’s been able to get through training, especially this week but also most of last week, as well.

“We’re expecting him to come in really prepared and be able to get back to his best.”

Bond said Pavlich, who missed last week’s game through illness, had trained well all week.

“He got through training, he’ll be fine,” he said.

Young forward Michael Apeness will play his first game in front of the Freo fans.

Bond said the 19-year-old would benefit from playing alongside Freo’s captain this week.

“A young forward playing next to someone like ‘Pav’ has got to be only good things for them,” he said.

“It’ll be a great experience for him. He’s got a really solid work rate, he runs very hard and he’s a great kid.

“It’s just rewards for the work that he’s put in at Peel.”