One of Fremantle’s most important players is spending most of the week training away from teammates, with Luke Jackson based in Melbourne in the lead-in to the Dockers’ crunch clash against the Western Bulldogs.

Jackson has been in Victoria this week for personal reasons, having departed Perth in the wake of last Friday night’s loss to Brisbane at Optus Stadium.

The mother of Jackson’s partner, Kelsey Browne, passed away this week.

Jackson will continue his training regime while in Melbourne before linking up with the playing group when they arrive on Friday, two days out from the Dockers’ must-win fixture at Marvel Stadium.

Speaking on Wednesday, Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said the unique situation wouldn’t impact the club’s build-up to the game.

“I’m confident that we’ll be able to work our way around it and I’m confident that he can still prepare really well,” Longmuir said.

“He’s been in contact with coaches, he’s watched our reviews.

“Sometimes, personal circumstances override team preference, so we’ll work our way through that.

“Come Sunday, it won’t be an issue at all.”

Jackson has been among Fremantle’s best players this season and looms large as the WA club prepares to go up against a stacked Dogs midfield that includes Tim English, Marcus Bontempelli, Ed Richards and Tom Liberatore.

The 23-year-old was down on his top form in the loss to the Lions amid copping some increased attention, but Longmuir said he was confident of a bounce-back performance.

“They’re all learning games. Win, lose, play well, don’t play well... they’re all learning games,” Longmuir said.

“There’s a lot of players who would have looked at their performance on the weekend and thought, ‘I could have done better here, I could have done better there, I’ll learn from this, I’ll learn from that’. He’s one of those.”