NORTH Melbourne has received some overdue good news on the injury front with key defender Lachlan Hansen cleared of concussion and fit to play against Carlton this Friday night.
North Melbourne coach Brad Scott told reporters on Wednesday that vice-captain Jack Ziebell (knee) was also expected to be fit to take on the Blues, but would have to complete North's main training session – and train well – on Wednesday.
Forward Leigh Adams was also expected to train fully on Wednesday after recovering well from a knock to the knee that forced him to sit out the last quarter of the Roos' win over St Kilda last Saturday at Blundstone Arena.
Hansen had been in some doubt for Friday night's clash after being substituted out of the St Kilda game following a heavy head knock in a third-quarter collision with Saints ruckman Tom Hickey.
The key defender's availability to take on the Blues was further clouded by the series of concussions he had suffered in recent seasons.
But Scott said North's doctor Andy McMahon had confirmed Hansen was in "no doubt" for the Carlton clash at noon on Wednesday.
"He passed all his (concussion) tests at the ground, but we decided to sub him because we wanted to make the sub anyway," Scott said.
"As it turns out, technically he would have been right to come back on, but we chose to be very cautious with him and he's going to be available this week for selection.
"He'll train today and there's no problem."
Scott said Hansen had not been knocked out in his collision with Hickey.
"He was aware of everything, he could recount the incident and exactly what happened," Scott said.
"It definitely dazed him, that was the reason for our caution.
"I think with any player who's had multiple head knocks over a period of years you're going to be more cautious with them.
"We'll never do anything to jeopardise his long-term health and safety."
Scott also said things were finally starting to look up for long-term injury absentees Jamie Macmillan, Daniel Wells and Nathan Grima.
Macmillan, Wells and Grima last played in rounds three, five and seven respectively.
Scott said all three had follow-up scans on Wednesday to ensure their recoveries were on track and the results had indicated "they're all trending in the right direction".
"We think they'll all be very close to being available pretty soon after the bye," Scott said.
"They're coming back into the frame to join full training and then we'll have to assess their fitness after that.
"It looks like there's upside on the injury front for us at this stage."
