Star North Melbourne on-baller Ben Cunnington is a certain starter against Carlton, but former skipper Andrew Swallow has been dropped for a second time this AFL season.
The 29-year-old returned from a stint in the VFL for last week's game against Melbourne but was replaced by Trent Dumont for Sunday's clash at Etihad Stadium.
"We're still sort of having a look at our midfield mix," coach Brad Scott said before final teams were confirmed on Friday.
"(Dumont) is going to be fit to play, so we've just had to make that call.
"There are a few guys who played well last week who would be very unlucky to lose their spots and, on the flip side, there will be some guys who didn't play who will be unlucky not to come back in, if we choose to go that way.
"But the good thing is we've got a really strong, fit, 25 to pick from."
Swallow, who was first dropped five games into the season, is an emergency with Jed Anderson and Braydon Preuss.
Cunnington received treatment for a knee injury during the Roos' spiteful win over the Demons but has shown no ill-effects at training.
"He's fine - we don't anticipate even needing to test him; we've picked him and he's all-clear," Scott said.
Cunnington was fined, rather than banned, after he punched Demon Bernie Vince in the stomach and Scott said it was clear the practice would no longer be tolerated.
"If you clench your fist and make contact with an opposition player you're at massive risk," he said.
"It would be an incredibly stupid decision for any player this round to clench a fist and make contact with an opposition player.
"We've had clear communication that will result in at least a report ... and if there's any level of force it will be a suspension."
North have recovered from a disastrous 0-5 start to move up to 14th having won three of their past four matches.
The 16th-placed Blues also have a 3-6 record and have proved a tough nut to crack defensively without regularly getting the desired results.
Brendon Bolton's side were rocked by the season-ending knee injury to key defender Sam Rowe last week, with likely replacement Liam Jones unavailable through injury.
The Roos' formidable attacking tall trio of Ben Brown, Jarrad Waite and Mason Wood loom as a key factor, but Scott isn't banking on aerial domination.
"They've been really solid and consistent in their defensive effort, so we're going to have to be at our best with our ball movement," he said.
"We look at our forward line as a unit and hopefully we can get goals multiple ways, not just from one or two big blokes."
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