Collingwood have received some good news on the injury front with Levi Greenwood making better-than-expected progress in his recovery from hip surgery.
The Pies' chances of getting off to a strong start in 2017 haven't been helped by injuries to key players like Jamie Elliott, Daniel Wells, Jordan De Goey and Greenwood.
But the 28-year-old trained on Tuesday, a little more than a week after surgery, and is pressing to make an earlier return than first thought.
"(Greenwood) has really progressed well ... we thought that that might be a three-to-four-week operation in terms of him getting back," Collingwood football chief Geoff Walsh said.
"But pleasingly he's going to be inside that and in seven days time we might have some good news that he's not far away from availability."
Elliott, who missed all of last season with a back injury and the Pies' round one loss to the Western Bulldogs, will miss another week with an ankle injury.
"He'll train on Thursday and he'll be looking to put his hand up for Sydney (in round three)," coach Nathan Buckley told reporters.
"He's lightly raced this year with regards to footy, and he's missed a lot of footy over the past 18 months, but what he brings to the table is enticing.
"So if he can put two or three good footy (training) sessions together we may consider him for Sydney but he'd have to have everything go well."
Buckley is hopeful Wells (calf) will join the main training group next week and be ready to return via the VFL after a fortnight of full training.
"He'll have to prove his fitness, first and foremost, through footy training and then through the VFL," he said.
"He's a class player, I don't think we'll need to see too much, but at the same time we want him to be over-ready when his time comes.
"And when he comes in we want him to stay in."
De Goey will be missing for up to six weeks, the midfielder required to serve a club-imposed suspension after his broken hand heals because he lied about how it happened.
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