Essendon captain James Hird will have surgery tomorrow to repair a fracture above his left eye socket sustained in today's clash with Fremantle.The surgery will force Hird to remain in Perth for the next week and will see him miss the next 8 matches.Hird sustained the injury after an horrific clash with Mark McVeigh midway through the third quarter.

Hird came from the ground with blood streaming from his face, and was taken from Subiaco Oval by ambulance for precautionary scans which revealed the fracture.Hird's knock to the head followed an incident which saw Blake Caracella knocked out in the second quarter and stretchered from the ground.