Collingwood defender Paul Seedsman is struggling to shake off a glute injury in time to face Geelong on Friday night.
Seedsman, 23, complained of soreness in the Magpies' big win over Carlton last week and failed to see out the game.
He made only a brief appearance at training on Wednesday, but coach Nathan Buckley said he would be given every chance to prove his fitness.
"It wasn't as bad as we first thought, we subbed him as a precaution, but he hasn't responded as quickly as we would've hoped," Buckley said.
"He did some work inside this morning after the warm-up - we'll give him an extra 24 hours and see how he goes."
Seedsman, who received the Anzac Day Medal for his efforts in Collingwood's win over Essendon, has enjoyed good form early in the season after being slowed by hip surgery in January.
The Pies go into their clash against the Cats sitting in second place on the ladder with a 4-1 record, while Geelong are currently in 14th spot with just two wins.
"One thing I can guarantee you is that we're not going to be resting on our laurels - we won't be going into this game with our eyes closed," Buckley said.
"We're expecting a really keen, intense and hungry Geelong side who are going to come out firing."
Buckley has preached a 'squad mentality' this season as he tries to lessen his side's reliance on stars like Scott Pendlebury and Dane Swan.
That approach has already been put to the test with players like Steele Sidebottom, Levi Greenwood and Ben Reid missing for significant periods of time.
Sidebottom and Greenwood are making solid progress in their recovery from thumb and ankle injuries respectively, but Reid still has plenty of work to do as he attempts to overcome the soft-tissue injuries that have stalled his career.
"Our first port of call is to get Reidy up and about," Buckley said of the defender who is recovering from a quad strain.
"We don't know when he'll put his hand up for senior selection ... (but) it will, firstly, be on the back of his ability to get fit and robust and, secondly, on his form and game time in the VFL - then and only then is (AFL selection) a consideration."
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