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AAP
AAP
Sport
Justin Chadwick

Besieged Eagles promise strong response against Saints

Luke Shuey has promised the Eagles will be strong for their match against St Kilda (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

West Coast captain Luke Shuey has promised fans a strong response when his struggling team take on St Kilda at Optus Stadium on Sunday.

Eagles coach Adam Simpson has endured a week of unrelenting criticism in the wake of his side's 171-point capitulation to Sydney last Saturday.

The equal-fourth biggest loss in VFL/AFL history led to an outpouring of anger from West Coast fans, many of whom called for Simpson to be sacked.

Simpson is contracted until the end of 2025, and West Coast are sticking by the 2018 premiership coach.

The Eagles are on a 12-match losing streak, with four of those defeats being by more than 100 points.

Each of the defeats during the losing run has been by at least 40 points - a new record in the VFL/AFL.

Shuey said the players - and not Simpson - are to blame for the team's woes, and he's adamant there will be a strong response against the Saints.

"We touched on how much those performances hurt our pride as a footy club, but more importantly our fans," Shuey said.

"So there will be a response this week."

Some fans have threatened to show their dissatisfaction by boycotting the opening term of Sunday's match.

Simpson is urging supporters to stick by the club.

"You just hope, as much as they're frustrated, that people support the club that's held them in pretty good stead for a long period of time," Simpson said.

"You just hope the support is still there and they've got our backs as much as it's hard to at the moment. But that's up to them."

West Coast have been boosted by the return of veterans Jamie Cripps (ankle) and Shannon Hurn (hamstring).

But that good news was tempered by the fact Elliot Yeo will miss three to four weeks with a hip injury.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon is expecting a massive response from West Coast after their humiliation at the hands of Sydney.

Lyon has turned up the heat on his own players this week, urging them to regain the hunger and dare that helped them win six of their opening eight games.

St Kilda scored just two first-half goals in last week's 28-point loss to Brisbane, and he wants them to be braver this week.

"Our midfield got smacked around the clearances," Lyon said.

"We weren't brave when the game was up for grabs.

"You've got to take the risks then, not have an honourable come-from-behind loss.

"We played collapse-back footy. It was passive."

Lyon has resisted the urge to make mass changes, with the return of Seb Ross in place of Ben Paton the only tweak to the side this week.

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