The Lions will try to snap a five-match losing streak when they host the Pies, who are second on the table and playing some great footy despite last week’s loss to Geelong.
Voss stopped short of declaring the round 10 fixture a line-in-the-sand match for his club, although he knows his side must turns things around quickly if it wants to play a role in September.
“It’s an important game for us and it’s something the players are more than conscious and more than aware of,” Voss said on Thursday.
“The ground’s going to be packed out, there’s certainly going to be expectation around the actual game itself and I think it’ll be a pretty good contest.”
The Lions sat atop the AFL ladder after four rounds before being brought back to earth with a thud at the hands of Melbourne.
A 50-point loss started the current run of losses, with the most recent coming against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium last weekend.
Voss’s team did look better in that match and the coach said despite his side slipping to 11th on the table he wasn’t getting too concerned just yet.
“If you look at the ladder - and I’m not a ladder-watcher - but if you do look at the ladder, I think you’ll find that you’re one moment away from turning form around," Voss said.
Voss has made three changes for Saturday night’s showdown with the Pies.
While strong performances in the Lions’ reserves team has allowed Sam Sheldon and Tom Collier to push their way in, the experienced Travis Johnstone returns for Jed Adcock - who will miss eight weeks after having surgery on Thursday.
Voss said Johnstone’s ball use would be important as his team prepared for a Collingwood team intent on rebounding from just its second loss of the season.
“They’re in pretty good form,” the coach said of the Magpies.
“They lost against Geelong last week but before that they’ve been in very good form, so they should come up pretty fresh and confident.”
Voss again fielded questions about sore skipper Jonathan Brown.
The champion forward struggled against the Crows last week but his coach believed he lacked touch rather than movement.
He said he expected with a rise in training in coming weeks, Brown would slowly return to his best.
“Obviously there’s been a lot talked about but ultimately it comes down to one thing, and that’s performance,” he said.
“It all comes down to one critical component and that’s being able to get out there on game day and put a performance on the board.
“He’ll increase his training. We’ll do that over a period of time, but ultimately it comes down to Saturday and what we all can do on Saturday.
“Our performances, we live and die by that, and individuals are no different to that.”
