PREMIERSHIP veteran Bachar Houli will be held back from Richmond's clash with Adelaide on Friday night but remains a chance to face Greater Western Sydney the following week.
Houli hurt his groin against Essendon in round 10 and has been slightly slower to progress than initially predicted.
The 30-year-old is set to resume training with the main group this week with the view to facing the Giants on July 14.
"Similar to Dion Prestia, in the sense that could we have pushed a little harder for this week, maybe, but we want to make sure these guys who haven't had their best pre-seasons are set up well for the rest of the year and beyond that," physical performance manager Peter Burge told the club's website.
"We're going to take another week with Bachar and make sure he can do everything he needs to do, long kicking, agility, everything at 100 per cent by the end of this week, get a full week of training next week and hopefully he's available for selection for GWS."
Tough midfielder Anthony Miles won't play at any level this weekend after a nasty knock in the VFL on Saturday sent him to hospital with concussion.
However, there is some hope he'll be available the following week.
"He was really sore and a bit groggy, so at this stage the doc has already ruled him out of playing this weekend as a precaution," Burge said.
"It was a pretty nasty incident so he won't play this weekend, he's pretty sore through his neck and other parts of his back so it's just about recovery now for him."
Luckless midfielder Reece Conca returned to the club on Monday after dislocating his ankle in a sickening incident against Sydney on Thursday night.
While the injury looked dramatic, Burge confirmed it wasn't as serious as first thought with the 25-year-old escaping surgery and requiring a moon boot for around two weeks.
"We're pretty much treating it like a sprained ankle," he said.
"Timeline-wise, it's very hard to say but we're fairly optimistic it will be before the end of the season and hopefully sooner.
"It's a good result out of a really bad situation. At the time, it looked terrible, but Reece is super positive, he's in good spirits and I actually caught him walking without the boot for five minutes today as well.
"He's had some terrible luck … so it's nice for him to have some luck out of a situation that could have been a lot worse."
Young midfielder Nathan Drummond has been dealt another blow, re-injuring the hamstring he hurt earlier this season at training on Thursday.
He is expected to miss at least two weeks, but Oleg Markov could return within that timeframe after progressing well from a medial ligament sprain in his knee.
Important defender Nick Vlastuin will miss with a one-game suspension, while fellow premiership player Jacob Townsend has been offered a one-game VFL striking suspension, downgraded from two with an early guilty plea.
Midfielder Dion Prestia pulled up well from his first game since round seven and is expected to face the Crows on Friday night.
