Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has brushed aside any concern over midfielder Taylor Adams' injury, effectively declaring him a certain starter for round one.

Adams took no part in the second half of Sunday's Marsh Community Series defeat to St Kilda at Morwell Recreation Reserve after pulling up short just before half-time.

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The 26-year-old felt for his groin while receiving treatment on the boundary – after missing almost three months with an adductor setback last season – but the Pies reported a hip complaint.

"He jarred his hip in that incident at the front of the interchange bench late in the second quarter (and) we just pulled the pin on him then and get him set for round one," Buckley told reporters.

"He wanted to keep playing but then he could be missing an arm and he'd want to do the same thing."

Buckley was most disappointed with conceding 35 inside 50s in the second half as the Saints won by 11 points after Collingwood kicked four of the first five goals of the game.

He was pleased with how usual forwards Jordan De Goey and Jamie Elliott fared in their midfield stints, while Josh Daicos' performance on a wing and up forward also caught his attention.

However, Buckley hinted that Mason Cox, who largely struggled on Sunday, would hold onto his senior spot ahead of recruit Darcy Cameron for the season-opener against the Western Bulldogs.

"There's no doubt (Cameron's) performances have been really strong the last two weeks and he understands we probably need to see a bit more of him forward of the ball," he said.

"When you're playing well onball but have an All-Australian ruckman (Brodie Grundy) in front of you, you need to be able to do the job in front of the ball.

"So he's going to continue to work on that and be an ongoing challenge for Mason, Brody Mihocek and 'Reidy' (Ben Reid) as well."