With finals off the agenda, Collingwood's next five weeks are all about continuing to build character.
With that in mind, Sunday's AFL clash with ladder-leaders Adelaide at the MCG could be the perfect fixture for the Magpies even if the odds aren't in their favour.
At the very least, the Pies will be a handful if they can maintain the spirit they showed last week when they came from behind in a dominant final quarter to knock off West Coast.
"I think what pleased us internally, and obviously pleased our fans, was the way last week that the boys knuckled down," assistant coach Brenton Sanderson told AAP.
"We came back from four or five goals down at different stages with only two players on the bench.
"That's the sort of character-building win that you like to be associated with, and it certainly gives the boys confidence."
While spirits are high at Collingwood, things haven't been made any easier on the injury front.
Skipper Scott Pendlebury's season is all but over after he underwent a second operation on his broken finger.
Travis Varcoe is in the same boat after having surgery on his dislocated elbow, while key forward Darcy Moore remains in doubt after copping a heavy blow to the neck last week.
"He might be a game-time decision, I think," Sanderson said of Moore.
"It was a pretty horrific collision that he was involved in, so it'd be a great effort if he gets up but at the same time, the club certainly wouldn't force him to go out there if he's not 100 per cent right."
Adelaide will also field an understrength line-up with Eddie Betts (appendix), Jake Lever (hamstring) and Brad Crouch (cheekbone) all sidelined.
Sanderson, who spent three years as Adelaide's senior coach before being sacked in 2014, said it would nonetheless take something special to defeat his former side.
Like close friend Nathan Buckley, Sanderson's future at the club could depend on what comes out of a wide-ranging review into Collingwood's football department.
"It's one of those things where you have to accept it's part of the industry," he said.
"I think everyone would love longer contracts, and everyone would like more certainty about what their future holds, but there's probably no way to really get around it ... coaches and players have to accept that along the way."
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