The selection intrigue at Collingwood could continue until gameday, with coach Nathan Buckley refusing to guarantee Travis Cloke will hold his spot as Darcy Moore pushes to return for Saturday night's clash against old enemy Carlton.

Cloke and fellow tall forward Jesse White appear most in danger of dropping out of the side which thumped Fremantle last Friday night, should Moore make his return from a fractured collarbone.

The young gun trained strongly in windy conditions on Thursday and seems set to force his way back into the Pies' side, while the unpredictable Melbourne weather could impact Collingwood's final team selection.

But Buckley wouldn't be drawn into pre-empting whether Cloke would retain his spot when teams are announced later on Thursday, despite the spearhead kicking two goals from 14 touches against the Dockers.

"Darcy got through (training), so when we sit down this afternoon we've got some decisions to make," Buckley said.

"But we're really looking forward to the challenge this Saturday and the 22 blokes who are selected will represent the club in a really big game.

"We're fully focused on playing our best footy and we're up against an arch enemy and we lowered our colours (by 15 points in round seven) so we've got to redeem ourselves."

Meanwhile, star midfielder Taylor Adams (hamstring) is pushing to return against the Blues, although he's unlikely to be rushed back for Saturday night.

The Pies' leading goalkicker Alex Fasolo (fractured scapula) is also a "week or two away" after resuming contact work at training this week, while veteran Tyson Goldsack is among a group of players in contention to face Carlton after a strong patch of VFL form.

"We've had five wins on the trot in our VFL, so we've had good performances from our listed players and our whole VFL program, for that matter," Buckley said.

VFL Player Review - View the individual statistics of every performer for the VFL Magpies on Sunday.

"So we've got plenty of boys putting their hands up, which is a good problem to have."

Buckley said the Pies would have "contingencies" in place for wet and windy weather on Saturday night, but his main focus on Thursday was talking up redemption against the Blues.

The Pies slumped to 2-5 after that defeat and even wins over the Brisbane Lions and Geelong in the following weeks weren't enough to get the season back on track.

"We were really disappointed with how we were playing our footy through that period and that game was a little bit of a catalyst for us turning things around through the middle part of the year," Buckley said.

"We're in better shape than we were then.

"We got whacked in contested ball and aerially they were dominant on us, so they're a few areas that we know we need to come to the party with.

"We do need to redeem ourselves in regards to that performance. 

"It's eight weeks ago now and we can't take it back, but we want to be playing better footy, we said we were going to do that post-bye and the challenge is to reproduce it again on Saturday."