Hawthorn will be without Ben Stratton for the remainder of the season, after the premiership defender experienced a setback in his recovery from a knee injury.

Stratton was named to play in the Hawks’ Round 15 side before pulling up sore after a final training session on Saturday.

According to Elite Performance Manager Andrew Russell, Stratton has further irritated cartilage in his knee joint.

“He’d had a really solid two weeks of training and then he pulled up with swelling the morning of the game,” said Russell.

“We had to pull him out which was disappointing, and now that swelling has continued and we’ve unfortunately had to pull him out for the rest of the season to let that joint fully recover.”

In a double injury blow, Grant Birchall is also set for more time on the sidelines after he too experienced a setback in his recovery from a knee injury.

The defender was impressive on return against Adelaide, however after two games his knee has started to experience some irritation.

“[Birch’s] knee has swollen a little bit,” said Russell.

“He came back from the PCL, he was moving really well and we were really happy with the way it was going, but the knee is telling us that it’s a little bit irritated so he’s not going to play this week.”

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