Segol has been carrying the injury for a few weeks and with the club to have a weekend off next weekend, coach Mark Howard saw an opportunity to rest him.

It will freshen him up before the run to the finals.

“He’s been playing under duress for the last couple of weeks so now he can have the best part of three weeks off,” Howard said.

The coach was hopeful David Tunstead would return in a straight swap although he was going to find out more at Thursday night’s training session.

The Vikings will miss Segol’s no-nonsense attitude.

“He rolls his sleeves up, never complains about his work and he’s been a powerhouse for us so far this season,” Howard said.

They will again be without Adam McCormack who is on representative duties and Glen Littler and Tom Hetherington are also out through injury.

Dan Willoughby returns from a broken hand at outside centre in the only other change to the side which defeated Pirates on Saturday.

Howard admitted his side had trouble “getting up” for matches the week after the local derby.

“We speak about that all the time and as a club we call it a hangover week because you always get up for local derbies,” he said.

“We don’t want to drop off from last weekend and want to keep the momentum going.”

If the last encounter between the two sides is any indication, Howard expects something similar.

“We got a hard game when we played them up there so hopefully they’ll travel in numbers and give us a similar game,” he said.

The reserve grade encounter earlier on Saturday sees the top two sides clash.

“It’s a big day for reggies who can consolidate top position with a win,” Howard said.

First grade kicks off at 3pm at Oxley Oval.