Geelong are happy with Joel Selwood's recovery from ankle surgery, but there is still a large question mark over his ability to play early in the AFL finals.
Selwood required an operation to fix damage sustained in two incidents during the Cats' round-20 loss to Sydney at Simonds Stadium.
The skipper will attempt to take part in match simulations planned for the bye weekend ahead of the finals in a bid to prove his fitness.
But coach Chris Scott concedes there's still a large element of the unknown about his star player's future availability.
"It's positive so far but these types of injuries tend to come together pretty quickly in the early stages, even post-surgery," Scott said.
"But the challenge is late in the rehab process ... we're not at that point yet.
"Early indications are good, but we'd be shattered if they were bad."
Geelong take on Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday and Scott made two changes to the side that defeated Richmond.
Important midfielder Mitch Duncan is back from suspension, with forward Wylie Buzza also in, while ruckman Rhys Stanley (calf) and Brandan Parfitt (omitted) drop out.
Scott said his side can ill-afford to take on the Pies with one eye on their looming finals campaign.
The third-placed Cats can still claim a top-two finish or slip out of the top four altogether with two rounds left in the home-and-away season.
"I think, at times, everyone dreams about what's possible in September, but the real pros get back to the job at hand," he said.
"We need to do everything we possibly can to scrape over the line this week.
"We're not going in just expecting to win the game - we need to play at our absolute best to beat this opposition. Their best this year has been very good.
"If we go into the game hoping for their worst we'll get pantsed I reckon."
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