COLLINGWOOD defenders Nathan Brown and Chris Tarrant will push to face Gold Coast on Sunday at the MCG but Dane Swan and Ben Reid will miss at least another week.
Brown and Tarrant trained on Tuesday and have shown improvement from their respective knee and calf injuries.
Neither played on the weekend, with the VFL team having a bye, but both were "topped up" with a conditioning program.
"Nathan Brown and Chris Tarrant ran around pretty well today (Tuesday) and will stake claims in the main session in a couple of days," coach Nathan Buckley said.
"We're still waiting for the dust to settle a little in that regard."
Brown has missed two games due to the knee he injured against the Brisbane Lions and was intially forecast to be unavailable for two to four weeks.
Tarrant has played just one game this year - round two against Richmond - and lasted a quarter before he injured his calf. He returned in the VFL two weekends ago.
Swan completed a "hamstring running program" on Tuesday and remains on track to face Melbourne on the Queen's Birthday holiday but Reid is unlikely to be seen before the bye.
Buckley said the Pies would take a cautious approach with recalling Reid, given the defender's history of quad problems.
The coach also said that the twin towers Travis Cloke and Chris Dawes are working hard enough and has backed them to turn their form around.
The forwards have struggled to impact the scoreboard recently and are below their flashy best, with Cloke beaten by Adelaide defender Ben Rutten on Saturday night and Dawes struggling to get into the game.
Buckley said their issues weren't work ethic-related and both were "playing their role" within the team's structures without starring.
"If there was a work-rate issue I'd be concerned but it's not," Buckley said.
"I've got no doubt if they maintain their work ethic and preparation and their standards in both of those regards, it'll turn for them.
"They prepare as hard now as they ever have, and that's encouraging to see."
Buckley said last week Cloke's contract situation might have been taking a toll on his mindset.
But on Tuesday, he said it was too easy to blame the negotiations.
"It's no different to a couple of weeks ago. Patty Dangerfield was going through negotiations as well and he was in great form. Steele Sidebottom, Sharrod Wellingham and Dayne Beams are in the process of working out their next contracts and they're playing well," he said.
"I think it's an easy connection to make but how much effect it has, I don't know.
"I don't think there's many footballers that don't lose a little bit of confidence when you're not playing the type of footy you'd like to play.
"He probably hasn't been taking his grabs in the last couple of weeks but we just set such high standards for players like Trav, he's just an easy target at the moment."
Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
