MELBOURNE co-captain Nathan Jones expects fellow leader Jack Viney to get himself up for Sunday's clash against the Brisbane Lions at the MCG, despite battling an ongoing foot injury.
Star forward Jesse Hogan is less likely to play against the Lions as he continues his recovery from a broken collarbone, although Jones said the club was giving him every opportunity to prove his fitness.
Viney has pulled up sore after the Demons' last few games following the surgery he had on the plantar fascia in his foot in early July, and was on crutches at the club on Monday to help manage the pain.
"You'd be a game man to bet against him, that's for sure," Jones said.
"The crutches at this point are pretty precautionary to help him 'de-load' early in the week after running around on it at weekends – he's actually done that a few times over the last few weeks.
"I expect him to give it his best shot. He's probably pulled up a little sorer than usual, but in saying that he's a pretty tough customer and we expect him to get out there on the weekend."
Jones said there was no risk of any more damage to Viney's foot, it was just about trying to minimise the pain the midfielder has been dealing with on a week-to-week basis.
"It's something that he's no doubt going to have to manage, due to him coming back so quickly from the surgery and the injury itself," Jones said.
"Trying to give it the time to heal in between smashing it on the weekend is important for him."
Hogan is set to step up his training this week and join the main group on the track in contact-based drills.
"He's tracking along pretty well. We're giving him every opportunity and he's giving himself every opportunity," Jones said.
"He'll train both training sessions this week with us, but again he's going to have to declare to us that he's ready to go just through his performances and sharing how he's feeling and how confident he is with certain aspects," Jones said.
"Over the next week or two we'll ramp that up and hopefully get him back out there."
Having beaten St Kilda at the MCG on Sunday, the Demons need to bank wins against the Lions this weekend and Collingwood in the final round of the home and away season to break an 11-year finals drought.
"It's all about preparation at this time of year and not looking too far ahead," Jones said.
"As boring as it is, it's interesting hearing from someone like Jordan Lewis, who has been through some really successful periods at the Hawks … being great can tend to be boring just because you have to execute week after week.
"It's the really simple things that you need to keep doing to become a great side and that's pretty much the message to our younger players: Take control of the things you can control with your preparation and all the things that lead to you playing well on the weekend."
