A QUAD strain has ruled Andrew Mackie out of Sunday's clash with Gold Coast at Simonds Stadium but the Cats are confident of regaining Jimmy Bartel.

Mackie, 30, faces time out of the game to mend the injury he picked up in the latter stages of Sunday's loss to Fremantle.

"He had some quad tightness towards the end of the game and scans this week have shown there’s a small quad strain, so he'll go into a short stint of rehab," Cats physio Mark Young told the club's website.

However, Bartel is expected to return after missing Sunday's game with the concussion he sustained in the dying minutes of their round one loss to Hawthorn.

Bartel was named in the Cats' 25-man squad last week but was withdrawn when the final team was named on Friday night. 

"Jimmy has trained really well with the boys this week and he's expected to play on the weekend," Young said.

Meanwhile, injury-prone midfielder Josh Cowan is also available after overcoming his latest hamstring setback.

"Josh strained his hamstring three weeks ago, he's had a fantastic rehab, trained really well with the VFL last night and he's available this weekend," Young said.

Cowan has battled career-threatening Achilles problems and chronic hamstring issues since early 2012.

Meanwhile, small forward Lincoln McCarthy has been placed on the long-term injury list as he recovers from surgery on his left foot.

The 21-year-old underwent surgery in March is expected to be sidelined for five months.