COLLINGWOOD has received a boost ahead of the NAB Cup with key defenders Ben Reid and Nathan Brown both expected to play in the pre-season competition despite injury-interrupted preparations.

Click to watch Rodney Eade's press conference on CTV's Official YouTube Channel.

Brown, 23, missed the entire 2011 season after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in February and then fracturing his right kneecap while on a mid-season training camp in Arizona.

Reid, 22, strained ligaments in his right shoulder when he fell awkwardly on a beach while holidaying in Thailand in January.

However, the club's football and coaching strategist Rodney Eade, a new position the former Western Bulldogs coach took up late last year, spoke to the media on Wednesday and said the pair would be able to gain valuable match conditioning at some point during the NAB Cup. 

"They're both tracking really well. We had match simulation today and both of those players got involved," Eade said after a training session at Gosch's Paddock.

"We're pretty confident Ben will probably play round two of the NAB Cup. Browny has just got a bit more work to do on his knee, but we're reasonably confident he might be able to get the last trial [game] or two in.

"[Ben] has progressed really well, he's probably a week or two ahead of schedule from where we thought he might be. He's done competitive work now, but he needs a little bit more fine-tuning.

"He won't play [first round] NAB … but there's a reasonable chance he might get a half in [the second round]."

Magpie veteran Alan Didak suffered a setback on Monday when he tore an adductor muscle at training, but Eade said the injury was responding well to treatment.

"Alan's really positive about it. He was limping around yesterday, but he was walking around quite well today," he said.

"We're fairly confident it will only be the four weeks. He might get in one or two games toward the end of the NAB Cup.

"I think it was on the minor side. It wasn't a huge tear."

Collingwood opens its NAB Cup campaign with games against Greater Western Sydney and the Bulldogs at Blacktown Oval on Saturday, February 18.