Watch Jarryd Blair speak to the media on YouTube.

COLLINGWOOD forward Alan Didak will be given until Friday to show he is over a calf complaint ahead of Saturday's clash with Carlton at the MCG, according to teammate Jarryd Blair.

Didak ran laps with injured fellow forward Chris Dawes, who is nursing a heavily bandaged hand after surgery to repair a broken knuckle last week, during Wednesday's training session at Gosch's Paddock.

He didn't get progress beyond a jog in the midweek hit-out but the Pies will train again on Friday, where he will get another chance to prove his fitness. 

"I think they've given Alan the week to come up. He's out there running laps now so he's probably got until Friday," Blair said before the session.

"I'm not too sure but I'm fairly confident he'll come up."

The news was better for in-form midfielder Dale Thomas, who trained strongly despite being subbed out of Sunday's 117-point win over North Melbourne with knee soreness.

"He's pretty good. I think the weekend was just a good opportunity for him to have a rest and he's fine, he'll play this week," Blair said.

The Magpies' twin forwards, Dawes and Travis Cloke, combined for a whopping 18 marks (nine contested) between them in the side's 28-point round three win over the Blues back in April.

Blair said while he wasn't sure if the coaches would go with another new attacking structure this week, he backed Lachie Keeffe - who debuted against North Melbourne and spent time up forward - to stand up again if he was selected.

"It's going to be a little bit different [to last time against Carlton]. The ball might be filtered through Trav a little bit more but then Keeffey's there and there are blokes like [Brent] Macaffer pushing for selection," he said.

"There are plenty of options going forward and we'll see how that pans out over the weekend.

"I'm not too sure what the match committee are thinking but it seems to work pretty well on the weekend, and whether they throw it around or not, I don't know.

"You want to have players like Chris in the side but at the same time, there are lots of blokes who play that role.

"Keeffey came in and did his job really well, so it worked fine."

Blair benefitted greatly from the dominance of the Pie forwards back in round three with a career-best haul of five goals.

He said he hoped he could replicate that performance and would look to work off whatever structure the Pies put forward.

"Hopefully there's another five in me but I think last time I was lucky with the focus on Trav and 'Dawesy' to be able to sneak a couple in," he said.

"It will be same for me this week; just work to Trav's feet or Keeffe's feet and try to get on the scoreboard again."

Blair, who modelled his game on Hawthorn great Shane Crawford as a kid, has played 25 games for the Magpies for a return of 22 wins, just two losses and one draw, including two Grand Finals.

He said while he had enjoyed the past actioned-packed year, he was mindful of the pressure to hold his spot from players like Didak, Macaffer and John McCarthy, with the latter two performing well in the VFL on the weekend. 

"It's been a pretty good ride and I've enjoyed most of it so far," he said.

"Obviously I've got to keep getting a kick and improving because you want to be around come finals time.

"There's definitely a lot of pressure but that's also a good thing for the team.

"It keeps everyone pretty hungry and everyone is desperate to stay in the side."