COLLINGWOOD will be bolstered by the return of captain Nick Maxwell, midfielder Sharrod Wellingham and ruckman Cameron Wood on Friday night against Carlton.
Maxwell will return from an ankle injury while Wood will play his first AFL game of the year after overcoming post-season shoulder surgery.
Wellingham will come straight back into the team after serving a two-match suspension for drinking alcohol while injured and missing a rehabilitation session.
"[It is great] anytime you get your skipper back and someone who reads the angles so well, and I think he makes others around him improve by 10 or 15 per cent with his voice communication and his structure, even without what he does as a footballer," coach Nathan Buckley said on Thursday.
"He's an important addition for us and we believe that makes us better down back."
Nathan Brown, Alan Didak and Ben Johnson were absent from Thursday's training session at Gosch's Paddock.
Buckley said Brown would need another three or four games in the VFL before being considered for senior selection, and Johnson needed another as he continued his comeback from a hamstring injury.
Didak is slated to play between 50 and 60 per cent in the VFL this weekend in his first game since his pre-season adductor injury.
Buckley said the Pies would focus on playing a full game after failing away at times against Hawthorn and Richmond.
He believed beating Carlton, or "one of the arch enemies", carried weight with the players because it meant more to supporters.
And, he said the battle of the midfield would be crucial to the game's result.
While he wouldn't be drawn on whether the Pies would look to shut down particular players, they would "fight fire with fire".
"I'll back our midfield against theirs but there will be some specific tactics that we'll be using to get the battle on our terms," he said.
"We've got to crack in and win our share of contested ball and that's where the game starts and ends in many ways.
"They've got some great depth there. There's a lot of focus on Judd and Murphy, but there's Simpson, Scotland, Carrazzo's been excellent in his role.
"There's a great deal of talent there to consider and if you try to do it one by one, it becomes fairly daunting but the fact is you need to play well as a team and back your strengths at times as well.
"We've got some talent around that part of the field as well."
Buckley also admitted blockbuster games such as Friday were the ones where players naturally were judged.
"Finals clearly are where players make their names and reputations, but there are big games through the year that provide that opportunity as well and this is definitely one of those."
Cameron Wood is a $370,200 ruckman in Toyota AFL Dream Team. Register your team here.
Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.
