Ivan Cleary is confident Penrith will return to full strength in time for the NRL finals but insists the Panthers are contending with "reasonably significant" injuries as the regular season nears its end.
Premiership players Izack Tago, Mitch Kenny and Scott Sorensen will all miss Thursday night's home game against rivals Parramatta but Brian To'o returns from a week out.
It comes after Kenny and Sorensen also sat out last week's defeat of Gold Coast with what have only been reported by the Panthers as minor niggles.
Tago is missing a sixth consecutive game with a knee injury that Cleary initially downplayed to the media.
Through three previous seasons finishing in the top two, Penrith have taken a conservative approach to their players' fitness towards the end of the regular season.
They notably rested almost their entire starting side for their last game before finals in 2022, having also given players spells ahead of the play-offs in 2020.
But To'o aside, Cleary denied he was resting fit players in preparation for the Panthers' push to a third consecutive premiership.
"They're reasonably significant injuries. They're not good enough to be able to play," the coach said.
"It would maybe be different if we were playing a grand final so it's a balance between trying to get those guys in absolutely perfect shape to be able to play.
"That's what we're looking to do."
Cleary was confident Tago, Sorensen and Kenny would all be fit in time for the finals, which begin the second week of September.
"Yes I am, at this stage," Cleary said.
"Most of them are fairly under control. They should be all right."
The ladder-leading Panthers are coy on whether they will rest players for their final game of the regular season against North Queensland, but upcoming results are likely to influence that decision.
If Penrith beat the Eels on Thursday and Brisbane win their next two games, the Panthers will need to defeat the Cowboys to secure the minor premiership.
"We've had a plan for a while but it seems that each week, something happens," Cleary said.
"We've just been getting a few little niggles here and there and a couple of injuries here and there so I don't want to look to far ahead."
Australian and NSW State of Origin representative Liam Martin celebrates his 100th first-grade game in the clash with Parramatta.
"He's really developed his game, particularly over the last few years, and become a very good representative player," Cleary said of Martin.
"We love having him here."
