Hawthorn are set to green-light Lance Franklin for action in their monster top-of-the-ladder AFL clash on Friday night.
Franklin has missed the past two weeks with a knee problem, but has trained strongly this week - including on Thursday at Waverley Park.
"He'll train today and we'll make an assessment after today," Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said ahead of the ladder leader's clash with second-placed Essendon at Etihad Stadium.
"Obviously he's missed a couple of games but we're expecting he'll be right and he'll play."
Clarkson said a slight complication with the initial knee problem - a burst fluid sac behind the knee - had prompted the club to be more cautious.
"When he's right to go, he's right to go. It's the same with all our players. We've just got to make sure they're right, fit and raring to go," Clarkson said.
"A fit player is much better than an 80 or 90 per cent fit player. If he's right to go, then he plays. He wasn't too far away last weekend, but he just wasn't quite right."
Midfielder Sam Mitchell, who missed last weekend's win over the Western Bulldogs with a stomach virus, will return.
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