GUN KEY forward Tom McDonald is expected to play in Melbourne's clash with St Kilda on Sunday after suffering a bruised lung in his last outing against Port Adelaide.
Coach Simon Goodwin said McDonald would need to get through Saturday's training session, but the club was expecting the 25-year-old to take the field.
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"He's fine, he got a really heavy knock," Goodwin said.
"He had a bruised lung earlier in the week. He's recovered really strongly, really positive signs. He's seen a specialist, he's got the all-clear.
"He'll do some work [on Thursday morning] at training but will more really test himself out on Saturday. We're really confident he'll be playing this week."
It’s the second time McDonald has suffered the unusual injury. Almost six years ago to the day, he needed to be driven back from Brisbane after a much more serious incident saw him unable to fly.
Star small defender Neville Jetta will also play despite finishing the Port clash in a bruised and battered state. A nine-day break between matches has aided Jetta's recovery
"He's pulled up well. He really just had a cut lip and a bit of a rolled ankle," Goodwin said.
"He was pretty bruised and battered, nine days to recover. He'll train fully today (Thursday) and he'll be right to go."
Goodwin backed star forward Jesse Hogan - who has been goalless in his past two matches - to return to his best.
"Jess is a really prominent player inside our forward 50. We want him to be really strong in his aerial contest. Clearly, he's not in the form we'd like him to be in, or he would like to be in, but we think he's not that far away.
"He's had a terrific season and he's just a young player going through a bit of an ebb and flow, but he'll be the commanding Jesse Hogan we know this weekend."
Melbourne won the inside-50 count 68 to 39 but lost to Port Adelaide by 10 points last Friday night.
The Demons were also held to 65 points, way down on their season average of 103, but Goodwin hasn't hit the panic button yet.
"[Scoring] certainly hasn't been a major issue for us throughout the year. Clearly, we score relatively well, we've had periods in the year and within games where we haven't done so. It's not a major concern.
"I'd rather have the problem that we had last week [not converting inside 50s], but the important thing for me is we continue to get the supply, work on our midfield and clearance work and making sure that's to a really high level."
Melbourne is still searching for the best replacement for injured intercept defender Jake Lever, who tore his ACL in his left knee in round 11.
Goodwin said the side had been a bit smaller, with Joel Smith (191cm to Lever's 194) his replacement.
"We'll continue to test that process, whether we go for another tall or keep the same system going. We feel like it's not that far away, but we'll continue to tinker and test that with some of our personnel.
"It'll be what works best for us as a team. We need to find a team that can play against all different types of opposition, and that's what we're working towards at the moment."
