Essendon coach James Hird has admitted he was forced to play injured players on Sunday against Collingwood due to the limited number of players on the interchange bench.

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The new interchange rule, which limits the number of players to three on the bench and one substitute, has been questioned on several occasions when teams have been riddled by injury.

Midfielder Brent Prismall was stretchered off with a suspected ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in the third minute of the opening quarter, and the Bombers were forced to activate substitute Michael Ross.

Soon after fellow midfielder Travis Colyer was carried off the ground by trainers after his left leg was crushed underneath Harry O'Brien's body weight.

Despite being a player down on the bench, the Bombers jumped out of the blocks kicking eight goals to Collingwood's four in the first term, the highest score an opponent has kicked against the Pies in an opening quarter since 2005.

Defender Kyle Hardingham (corked thigh), David Zaharakis (elbow) and David Myers (dislocated finger) also sustained injuries during the game, and as the match wore on it became increasingly difficult for the Bombers to hold off the fast-finishing Pies.

When asked if in normal circumstances he would have played Hardingham, Hird replied ""probably not"" and said the welfare and health of players had to be paramount when new rules were introduced by the AFL.

""I think the game is harder than it ever was and you need fit players, and as many players as you can to play the game out,"" Hird said.

""Whichever rule [the AFL] comes up with needs to look after the health and welfare of the players and make sure we're getting players through seasons and games. And when players are hurt we don't have to send them out on the field hurt. I think that's the priority.""

Despite struggling to field a full side, Hird refused to blame his side's 74-point loss to Collingwood on the injuries, saying they only contributed ""a little bit"" to the overall outcome.

""We lost two runners, which is always disappointing,"" Hird said.

""Colyer and Prismall are probably two of our best runners in the team. But as disappointing as it was to lose them - and as good as it was to hang in the game for that extra quarter-and-a-half - that's probably off-set by the disappointing nature of the way we finished the game.

""In this day and age there's no doubt that when you run out of rotations it's very hard to compete, in particular when you play a team like Collingwood.

""But I would have liked to see us compete and stay in the game longer than what we did, given the circumstances.""

Prismall will have scans on Monday to determine the severity of his ACL injury, while Colyer is believed to have fractured his fibula. Both are likely to be season ending injuries.

Hird said he expected Hardingham and Zaharakis to be available for next week's ""crunch game"" against the Sydney Swans, and is also hopeful of regaining some key players from injury, including Dustin Fletcher, Michael Hurley, Heath Hocking and Tayte Pears.