COLLINGWOOD midfielder Dane Swan says teammate Josh Fraser hasn’t reached a fork in the road in his career despite being dropped after 199 AFL matches.

Fraser was scheduled to play his 200th senior match against the Sydney Swans at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, but has been dumped from the Magpies’ line-up.

Injury and fitness woes have hampered his plight to regain his best form this season, as the former No.1 draft pick has battled to consolidate the supporting ruck role to recruit Darren Jolly.

But Swan expects Fraser to return in coming weeks.

“I don’t think the next three or four weeks are going to define Josh’s career by any extent,” the midfielder said following training on Friday.

“I’m sure he’s got a big role to play here over the next few years, so hopefully he gets back in the side when he’s good to go and shows everyone how good he can be.”

Fraser is among the Pies’ emergencies for Saturday night, however Swan said he didn't expect the big man to play barring a mishap prior to the match.

Instead, Fraser will head back to the VFL in coming weeks - where fellow big man Cameron Wood is also playing - in a bid to rekindle his best.

“He’s [Fraser] been around long enough to realise that we think he’s in our best side when he’s up and going,” Swan said.

“So he just needs to go back [to the VFL], get a bit of form and fitness back there. I’m sure when he’s ready to go, he’ll come back into the side and play an important part in the last half of the year.”

While some consider it a vital time in Fraser’s career, Swan said the coming weeks were a “crucial time for Collingwood as a footy club”.

The Magpies could move to second on the ladder with a victory over the Swans - something most would believe well within their grasp given they’ve won their past eight games against Paul Roos’ team.

Swan said he was unsure why his team had been so successful against the Swans in recent times, but knew that history would count for little on Saturday night.

“We haven’t really flogged them [in recent matches] ... they’ve been pretty close games,” he said.

“We don’t know why we’ve got a good record, but in saying that, they’re a pretty different side this year. We don’t get a two-goal head-start because we’ve won the last eight.”

The Pies will welcome back Alan Didak, Ben Johnson and Luke Ball, the latter set to play a key role around the stoppages.

Swan said while the two teams played in a similar vein, the Pies would back their players to win the footy around the clearances.

“We like to think we’ve got some good hard bodies around the footy,” he said.

“Hopefully it’ll be a hard game. It might not be very pretty to watch, but hopefully it’s a nice, tight, hard game.”