JACK Trengove is on the verge of a return to the AFL, but Melbourne coach Paul Roos has stopped short of guaranteeing the midfielder his first senior game in more than two years.
Jack Viney's hand injury (and one-week suspension) has opened up a position in the Demons' midfield, with the 24-year-old Trengove being considered to take on Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday.
Trengove has averaged 24 disposals and seven tackles a game at VFL level this season after battling a navicular fracture in his left foot over two years that placed his football future in jeopardy.
Roos said the Demons will again discuss bringing in Trengove for his first game since round two, 2014, after the club's VFL team had a bye last weekend.
"He's getting close, there's no doubt. His form's been really, really good but we need to look at the team. Obviously we've got [Jack] Viney out and [Colin] Garland out [injured] as well, so we need to look at the team and where we want to put players," Roos said on Wednesday.
"Our 'seconds' had the bye last week, which I think is really good, so whoever comes in from that will come in in good form but also after having a weekend off. There's probably four, five or six guys who are in contention of which Jack would clearly be one of them."
Roos said the Demons had initially expected Trengove to push for selection after the club's bye in round 14. However, the No.2 pick from the 2009 NAB AFL Draft has recovered ahead of time and put his name in the selection frame.
But Roos would not promise Trengove's inclusion as the Dees look to bolster their line-up with experience following last week's defeat to Port Adelaide.
"I don't want to build it up too much and then not pick him, so I've got to be a bit careful. It will be big for the club, it will be big for Jack and it will be big for everyone [when he plays again]. Jack understands where he's at and understands he's really close, but he's not panicking," Roos said.
"Clearly he would want to play now and I've spoken to him about that. He's really in the mix of getting picked, which I think is a fantastic effort for him and where he's come from to do it so quickly.
"I would've thought maybe after the bye we would've started talking about him playing, but he's five weeks ahead of where I thought he'd be given we started talking about him for selection last week.
"It's a terrific effort, but I've got to be careful not to build him up and get all his family over here and then he's running around in the 'seconds' on Sunday."
Forward Chris Dawes is in line to play against the Hawks in what would be his first game at senior level since round 21 last season, but Heritier Lumumba remains some weeks away from resuming after suffering with a concussion.
The former Magpie hasn't played since the Dees' loss to Melbourne in round six, and Roos forecast some more time out of the senior side despite Lumumba's improvement in recent weeks.
"I caught up with him yesterday and medically he's just about 100 per cent now – or 95 per cent in his own words. He probably just needs one area to get ticked off just to make sure, but we've got him back in team meetings, back around the club and back training," Roos said.
"He's been able to do running and weights, but we haven't had him in football training so that'll probably happen late this week or early next week. Then it's a matter of fitness and getting back playing again."
