Collingwood veterans Chris Tarrant and Alan Didak may face Carlton this Friday night if they train strongly over the next few days.
The Pies are already expecting to be boosted by the return of vice-captain Scott Pendlebury, who has missed three games with a cracked tibia.
Tarrant, 31, and Didak, 29, have been missing since round 11 - the former with a sore shoulder and the latter with an adductor injury.
Tarrant was named to play in the VFL last Sunday but was a late withdrawal, with the Pies opting for him to train instead of facing Frankston at Victoria Park.
"[Tarrant] trained with the boys here and did what we wanted," Collingwood director of football Geoff Walsh told AFL.com.au.
"Our main session is currently on and he's out there training so we'd expect him to be available this week.
"He wasn't quite ready on Sunday but he was OK to undergo a training session on Sunday with a number of other boys."
Tarrant had an interrupted pre-season with a foot complaint and then lasted just a quarter of his first game for the year in round two against Richmond before he strained his calf.
He played two VFL games before he was recalled to the seniors in round 11 against Melbourne, but withdrew from the Pies' next game against West Coast in round 13.
Walsh said Tarrant's legs were not the issue - he had been troubled by "a grumbly shoulder".
"It's nothing that's too severe, but just something that's restricted his general upper body movement," he said.
"He's just needed some time and that's something we think he's over this weekend."
The Magpies are also confident round 11 NAB AFL Rising Star nominee Ben Sinclair will be available after missing two games with an ankle injury.
"If they get through this morning, which we expect given medical opinion, they will be given a licence to train pretty much at full steam," Walsh said.
"Hopefully that is something they'll be able to complete [on Tuesday] and get the all clear with selection availability."
Meanwhile, the season is over for rookie defender Michael Hartley, who has been booked in to have a loose shoulder repaired.
"He hadn't been able to play all that often and he was coming off in his games because of the shoulder so he really hadn't had a good run at it since pre-season," Walsh said.
"[The shoulder] comes out periodically to the extent where we thought we need to halt the season for him and have his shoulder virtually reconstructed."
Hartley was added to the rookie list in December last year after being signed as a New South Wales scholarship player as a 14-year-old in 2008.
Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.
