Hawthorn expect key defender Brian Lake will be ready for his battle with Geelong behemoth Tom Hawkins on Friday night.
Lake suffered a corked hip in the Hawks' last-start win over Collingwood on Friday night.
The 32-year-old is one of few men in the AFL who can match Hawkins pound for pound.
His absence was sorely felt in round five, when Hawkins swotted undersized opponent Kyle Cheney away with ease to boot five goals and lift his side to victory over Hawthorn.
Hawkins was restricted to three goals in round 22, his duel with Lake a thrilling subplot to the reigning premiers' 23-point win.
Lake moved freely at training on Tuesday, with the Hawks confident he will be right for Friday night's qualifying final.
"We fully expect him to take his place in the side," Hawthorn football manager Chris Fagan said of the 2013 Norm Smith medallist.
"It ... was a bit of a corkie.
"It improved quite a bit on Saturday morning and he's made steady progress in the early part of this week.
"He did some running this morning and was pain free while he did that, so he'll train on Thursday."
Luke Hodge, Ben Stratton and Bradley Hill were all rested against the Magpies due to minor niggles, but the trio trained on Tuesday and will be ready for Geelong.
"I imagine they'll all be in the side when it's announced," Fagan said.
Matt Suckling's hopes of returning from a knee injury he suffered against Geelong on August 23 remain up in the air.
"He's a chance," Fagan said.
"We're really not certain.
"He's made some good progress over the last week and was another one that ran this morning.
"He'll train on Thursday and we'll see how he is then."
Fagan insisted Cyril Rioli could be part of the Hawks' finals campaign, saying the hamstrung star was on track to resume in "a couple of weeks time".
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