Melbourne remain confident a limited pre-season won't stop star midfielder Jack Viney from playing in their AFL season-opener against Geelong.
The co-captain has been on a modified training program for most of the pre-season as he recovers from a persistent foot injury.
Viney underwent surgery to relieve plantar fasciitis in his right foot after round 15 and missed just two games.
He has since admitted he returned too early after he developed a stress fracture in the same foot.
But the Demons have taken an ultra-cautious approach to the 23-year-old's recovery over summer.
"He's on track for round one," coach Simon Goodwin told reporters on Wednesday.
"We're really confident in Jack, he's nearly back with the main group. He's got another month to get himself ready.
"He's worked incredibly hard, we all know what he can produce, and we're confident that he's in a position where he'll be physically ready to play in round one.
"He's a chance (to play in the pre-season competition) but definitely round one."
Melbourne open their pre-season series with a clash against North Melbourne in the Tasmanian town of Kingston on Saturday.
Dom Tyson, Jeff Garlett and Dean Kent are nursing minor niggles and won't play this week, but are in the frame to play in the club's second and final pre-season game against St Kilda at Casey Fields on Thursday, March 8.
The Demons are desperate to play finals for the first time since 2006 after missing out by less than half a per cent in a gut-wrenching end to Goodwin's first season in charge.
"We've learnt a lot from that and we'll continue to learn as we go," Goodwin said.
"We're still a group that's developing great habits, so that experience for us was something that we really valued.
"We (have been) dealt some adversity and now we grow for that - we learn and we get better."
