Perth Wildcats have suffered a massive blow ahead of Saturday’s game against Sydney Kings with import Kristian Doolittle ruled out following his injury at training on Thursday.

Doolittle crashed to the court late in the club’s training session at the Bendat Basketball Centre and was quickly surrounded by concerned teammates, coaches and medical staff.

The Wildcats were initially confident he had escaped injury, but the American failed to recover in time to play against the Kings.

Jimmy Whitt will come into the team as Perth’s nominated Injury Replacement. Development Player Marley Sam also travelled with the team.

It is a major setback for the Wildcats who are chasing their fifth win in a row.

They are already missing Jo Lual-Acuil with a calf injury while import Brandon Knight was on minutes restrictions last week during his debut after only recently arriving in the country. Guard Jaron Rillie is also being eased into action after hamstring surgery last season.