Collingwood vice-captain Taylor Adams is set to face Brisbane on Easter Thursday after exiting health and safety protocols, but the Magpies have been dealt some more injury headaches with Brody Mihocek and Jack Ginnivan ruled out of the trip to Queensland.
Adams, 28, trained with the main group at the AIA Centre on Tuesday morning and showed no lingering concerns, after missing the 13-point loss to West Coast at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
Magpies coach Craig McRae will be forced to make at least three changes for the clash at the Gabba, with Jamie Elliott suffering a long-term shoulder injury which will rule him out for the next few months.
Key forward Mihocek won’t be available for round five after entering health and safety protocols on Tuesday morning, while small forward Ginnivan will miss his first game of 2022 due to soreness.
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"He [Mihocek] won't play. Unfortunately his partner has COVID so he's a close contact. That's just come through today," McRae told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.
"Jack is just a little bit sore. Five-day turnaround so he won't come up either. There's a couple of outs, so some opportunities for others."
McRae said the Magpies will select Adams when the teams are named on Wednesday night, anticipating the midfielder to be capable of running out a game by Thursday night.
"Coming back from COVID it's always a bit of a watch. They seem to get better every day," he said.
"He trained quite well, I thought. He's not quite there, but we'll pick him and give him an opportunity to play. At this stage, we are anticipating that he plays."
After missing the disappointing performance against the Eagles due to suspension, Jordan De Goey will face the Lions and is expected to play in attack to soften the loss of Elliott, Mihocek and Ginnivan.
De Goey made a blistering start to the season, averaging 23.7 disposals, 10.7 contested possessions and five clearances to poll 17 votes in the Coaches Award to be sitting equal-fourth after round three.
Key defender Jordan Roughead made a successful return from a pre-season shoulder operation against the Northern Bullants in the VFL on Saturday and could return to tackle Dan McStay or Joe Daniher on Thursday night.
"He did enough. It was just about getting some minutes and some confidence in his body. He did that so he will be up for an opportunity to be selected," he said.
Key forward Nathan Kreuger has recovered from the shoulder injury he suffered in his first game for the Magpies in round two and will give Collingwood's match committee something to think about, along with Mason Cox who put his hand up for a return with a strong performance in the ruck at Preston City Oval.
Elliott won't be seen until after the midway point of the year, but McRae said the out-of-contract star is hopeful he'll be back sooner than first forecast
"Jamie is in good spirits. He had an operation and he gets out of hospital today. The surgery went well. He is optimistic he'll be back shorter than what was first said," he said.
"He is such an important part of what we do and we care deeply about him. he will be sorely missed, but we'll have to move on."
Brisbane smashed Collingwood by 85 points in the most recent meeting between the two sides in the second last round of 2021.
The gloss was taken off an impressive start to the McRae era at Marvel Stadium on the weekend, with the loss to an undermanned West Coast outfit after being overrun by Geelong seven days earlier evening the ledger at 2-2 at the conclusion of the first month.
