Collingwood will again be without Scott Pendlebury when it takes on Adelaide, but coach Nathan Buckley says the skipper's return is near.

Pendlebury was a late withdrawal with a quad issue from the round eight clash against West Coast and the Pies have won just one of the past three games without him.

"He's slowly stepping up his loads from a running perspective, he's starting to do a little bit of agility work and he did a little bit of kicking yesterday," Buckley said of Pendlebury.

"He won't be right for Tuesday, he may be right for Saturday against Melbourne. It would be optimistic to expect him for round 12 but we may get him beyond that."

Fellow star midfielder Adam Treloar is not expected to return in this current fixture block after injuring his hamstring against Sydney.

Buckley expected a "standard" 3-4 week recovery time for Treloar, despite his history of hamstring issues.

Defender Isaac Quaynor is currently on crutches after copping a large gash on his leg thanks to the stray boot of Sydney's Sam Wicks, but he could be back within a couple of weeks.

"It's just going to be a matter of looking after the wound and making sure it doesn't get infected and giving it every chance to heal," Buckley said of Quaynor's injury.

The compliance of boots across the League has come into the spotlight following Quaynor's injury, but Buckley questioned whether it was the shape of the studs, rather than the materials, that were main problem.

"I'm not sure if it's metal studs that are actually the issue, for me it would be more the shape of the studs - if they're sharp or they've got more of a pointier end, compared to the blades or the moulded soles that we've been able to use more often recently," Buckley said.

Veteran Travis Varcoe took some time off to attend a service following the death of a family member, and missed the Pies' round 10 win over Sydney but has now re-integrated with the team after returning multiple negative COVID-19 tests.