The back complaint has kept Griffen on the sidelines for almost two months.
Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney confirmed on Thursday morning the skipper would return.
"Yea he will [play]," McCartney said.
"He has to train today which we're confident he'll get through and all being well he will play."
McCartney said the absence of Griffen, who will play his first official game as captain on Sunday, was roundly felt by the Bulldogs in last week's 65-point loss to West Coast at Patersons Stadium.
"I think missing last week as his first game as a captain he said he felt it even more so, because he wanted to be out there to help his teammates," McCartney said.
"It'll be good to have him back and he's really excited about playing. It's probably a good reminder that they do love playing the game and when you can't play it because of injury or different reasons then you do miss it."
While McCartney welcomed the return of last year's best and fairest winner, he was adamant the team could not afford to rely too heavily on Griffen.
"He's such a powerful presence," McCartney said.
"Good teams don't rely on one or two [players].
"It can't be just a couple of people. Everyone has to help defend and everyone's got to help win the ball. That's always been our focus here and will be heavily again this week."
McCartney forecast a couple of changes to the side with the coach weighing up whether or not to bring in some tall timber against the Kangaroos.
The Bulldogs forward line lacked height against the Eagles with Liam Jones a potential inclusion in attack following an impressive game in the VFL last weekend.
21-year-old defender Daniel Pearce will miss at least the next eight weeks after he sustained a grade three medial ligament injury to his knee.
"It will be a good two or three months [on the sidelines for Pearce]," McCartney said.
"They're not a great injury [but] it's very fixable. We still feel that he's a young player that’s got a fair bit of work to do building his body up so it's a great opportunity to work on that now.
"What we've found with the boys that have longer term injuries is that we put them to work. Educate them more about the game and give them a great opportunity to build their fitness base, a bigger body and hopefully they come out more prepared for the game."
