Collingwood are adamant injury-plagued All Australian Ben Reid will play in the AFL pre-season.
Reid's absence from their opening NAB Challenge match against Geelong on Friday night helped fuel speculation he had suffered a calf muscle strain.
Magpies football manager Neil Balme has emphatically denied that is the case.
"Watch this space on Reidy ... he will play in the NAB Challenge," Balme told SEN radio.
"He certainly hasn't torn his calf - I can answer that.
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"He doesn't have an injury."
Earlier this week, coach Nathan Buckley said he was pleased with how Reid had progressed through the pre-season.
Injuries have restricted the 2011 All Australian key position player to only nine games over the past two seasons.
"In Reidy's case, because it's been such a sensitive injury thing for so long, we don't announce all sorts of things with him," Balme said.
"He might be a bit sore; he might be a bit 'this'; did he run much this week?
"We try not to make that a big issue."
