WINNING without talented midfielder Brett Deledio will be a sign Richmond is progressing as a football club, according to coach Damien Hardwick. 

Deledio has missed seven games in the past two seasons and Richmond has won just two, both against the Brisbane Lions.

He will be missing again this week against Geelong as the Tigers look for a response from last week's loss to Melbourne, one which Hardwick described as insipid.

"That is the progression of a good footy club. We have just got to make sure the reality is when a player goes out we replace him with another one and we should be able to still win games," Hardwick said.  

The coach conceded that playing Deledio in round one against Carlton had not worked out well but said the call at the time had appeared to be the right one.

"I reckon 95 per cent of the time we make the right call. In hindsight, we probably say ‘yeah it was the wrong one,’" Hardwick said

The Tigers will welcome back key defender Troy Chaplin this weekend, while former skipper Chris Newman and running defender Dylan Grimes will be considered depending on how they test at training.

Hardwick said Chaplin's absence had exposed deficiencies in the Tigers’ defence.

"We felt we missed him enormously. He is a general down there, he marshals the troops and probably the disappointing thing for us is we lacked a bit of stability down there when he went out." 

Key forward Ty Vickery is also a strong chance to return on Saturday. 

Vickery has not played a senior game since round 18 last season when he was suspended for striking Eagles ruckman Dean Cox, but he shapes as the likely replacement for the injured Ben Griffiths after kicking four goals in the VFL.

Hardwick said he was pleased with the improvement the 24-year-old ruckman/forward had made when out of the senior side.

"Ty took some really strong contested marks, he's been working really hard defensively so we've been really pleased with his improved effort there," Hardwick said.

Richmond is under pressure to put in a strong performance but Hardwick was confident the response would come. 

[The] proof will be in the pudding. It is not what we say, it is what we do," Hardwick said.

"They're a proud group."