The undermanned engine room at the Gold Coast SUNS took another hit on Thursday afternoon when the prolific Aaron Hall went down at training with a hamstring injury.

Given the midfield talent already sitting in the grandstands in Gary Ablett, Michael Rischitelli, Dion Prestia, Jaeger O’Meara and David Swallow, Hall’s loss is a blow to Rodney Eade’s side ahead of Saturday afternoon’s clash with Fremantle at Metricon Stadium.

The Tasmanian leads the SUNS in disposals (27.9 per game), inside 50s (5.2 per game) and metres gained (530.2 per game) this season and his absence puts even more pressure on young mids Touk Miller and Jesse Lonergan to carry the midfield load.

Coach Rodney Eade confirmed the midfielder’s injury was only minor but Hall would still miss a couple of weeks with a return unlikely until the SUNS’ round 21 clash against Essendon.

“It looks like it’s only a minor one but it’ll be two weeks probably after this game, so three games,” Eade told United Coaches Chat on Friday.

“It’s a bit unfortunate with our best six midfielders now out so it puts a lot of onus on the inexperienced guys we’ve got there.

“But one thing about the group they’ve shown a lot of spirit and players that have come in have really grabbed their opportunities so hopefully we can do that again.”