Walyalup senior coach Justin Longmuir says he isn’t considering managing player loads with a five-day break between Round 10 and 11 matches approaching.

Speaking at his Thursday morning media conference, Longmuir said it was all eyes on Essendon Football Club ahead of the Club’s first Sir Doug Nicholls Round clash.

“No, no temptation (to load manage players). We’re dealing with Essendon first and foremost,” Longmuir said.

“There’s no team you can get too cute with in modern-day football.

“So, we’ll deal with Essendon and worry about St Kilda Football Club after that.

“I haven’t thought about it at all, to be honest.

“I’m just preparing for Essendon... It doesn’t really bother me how many we’ve won in a row.

“Our job is to prepare the best we can for Essendon, show up, and try to improve our footy.”

Walyalup will be without skipper Alex Pearce, who will miss one to three weeks with an MCL injury sustained in the final minute of the Round 9 win over Hawthorn.

“Clearly, we will miss him,” Longmuir said.

“He’s one of the better key backs in the comp and our captain, but there are guys at Peel who have been itching for an opportunity, have been in good form, and have been ready for an opportunity for a while now,” Longmuir said.

“So, we haven’t made the call on who it’s going to be.

“We’ll get through training, have match committee after training, and we’ve got some good options.”

Walyalup play Essendon at the MCG on Sunday 17 May at 11.10am WST, wearing the Club’s Indigenous Round jumper as part of Sir Doug Nicholls Round.