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Simpson realistic over returning Eagles

Ellott Yeo and Scott Selwood at the airport today. Pics: Bill Hatto/WA News

West Coast coach Adam Simpson says Scott Selwood and Elliot Yeo are both welcome inclusions for the club's crucial match against Gold Coast on Sunday but conceded that neither would be at their best after long injury lay-offs.

Selwood and Yeo both travelled east with the Eagles this morning, with 24 of the club's 25-man squad boarding the plane.

Defender Jacob Brennan was the only named player to miss out.

A win against the Suns has the potential to see the Eagles finish the regular season in eighth spot and qualify for an elimination final next week - something which seemed beyond them mid-season.

Simpson said both Selwood and Yeo had proved their fitness and would be ready to play on Sunday.

"It's not like we're taking any risks with these players, if they weren't right we wouldn't have played them," he said.

"We've held them back for a couple of weeks so we've done a lot of training off-site and GPS results tell us they're both ready.

"I don't think we'll see them at their best but what they've been doing at training has been real positive and they're both ready to go."

In order for West Coast to play finals, they need to win, while Collingwood and Richmond must lose their games against Hawthorn and Sydney, respectively, and Adelaide must fail to beat St Kilda by a massive margin.

Simpson said the fact they were relying on other results was disappointing but it didn't change the club's desire to finish the season on a high.

"I'm excited. I'm excited that we're playing some good footy, I'm excited to play a game that hopefully means something," he said.

"But even if it's not for the finals, it's pretty important for us to finish the year off well.

"We're building some momentum for next year and regardless of availability for finals, we consider it a big game for us for next year."