Melbourne young gun Angus Brayshaw is back on the AFL training track after his latest concussion setback.
The 21-year-old had spent a brief period away from the club after suffering his fourth concussion in 12 months while playing in the VFL.
He will be carefully managed by club doctors but the Demons remain hopeful the tough midfielder will play again at some point this season.
"We're taking a week-by-week approach with Angus," Demons coach Simon Goodwin said.
"He's back doing some training and some running, and we'll get him back to his best as quick as we can."
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Brayshaw, who was taken with pick No.3 in the 2014 draft, missed six games last year when he was concussed twice in a short period.
He later described the experience as isolating and mentally challenging, admitting his fear of copping another knock to the head made it difficult to work back into full-contact training.
But Goodwin on Thursday said Brayshaw was in good spirits and eager to return to playing.
"Clearly as a club, we've got a responsibility to build him up slowly, build his confidence back and make sure that he's got the right technique heading into games," Goodwin said.
"That's our responsibility as a footy club but he's in a very positive mindset about what he wants to do in the back half of the year."
Melbourne will look to bounce back from last week's disappointing 14-point loss to North Melbourne when they host Gold Coast in Alice Springs on Saturday.
The Demons have never won at Traeger Park, despite playing "home" games there for several years, but will go in favourites against the 15th-placed Suns.
With defender Christian Salem serving a one-game suspension for striking, Goodwin nominated Jake Melksham, Alex Neal-Bullen, James Harmes and Ben Kennedy as potential inclusions.
He admitted the Demons were still battling to make up for the absence of star ruckman Max Gawn (hamstring), with stand-in Cameron Pedersen smashed by North's Todd Goldstein last week.
Gawn is set to return after the Demons' bye, most likely against the Bulldogs in round 13 or West Coast in round 14.
"He's tracking extremely well," Goodwin said.
"He's doing a lot of running and conditioning and, in his own words, he's in pretty good shape."
