GEELONG expects Steve Johnson to play in the NAB Challenge in preparation for round one against Hawthorn but admits there are no guarantees he will. 

Cats coach Chris Scott said he would be reluctant to play Johnson against the Hawks on Easter Monday had the 31-year-old not played in one of the lead-up matches.

Whether Johnson will be actually available for any of the Cats' three NAB Challenge games will be determined in the next couple of weeks, Scott said.  

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Johnson took a week's break during January after complaining of foot soreness but he has resumed training.

He will not play against Gold Coast in Townsville on Sunday but the Cats do not play their second NAB Challenge game until March 12 against Adelaide, before finishing the series against Carlton on March 22 

Geelong starts the premiership season against Hawthorn on April 6.

Johnson was brilliant in the midfield in 2014, polling 19 Brownlow votes, but only finished 13th in the club best and fairest.

The Cats are looking to re-introduce some experience into the midfield with Jimmy Bartel and James Kelly training to be part of the mix in 2015. 

Bartel played mainly forward last year as the club struggled to find marking targets inside 50 to support Tom Hawkins, while Kelly was impressive off half-back although he could be exploited for pace at times.

"On reflection we had a look at the mix of players we had in our midfield group last year and we thought that if we lost one or two experienced players we were a little bit thin for experience," Scott said.

"Our experience is going to be better by virtue of organic growth, having guys like [Josh] Caddy, [Cam] Guthrie and [Mitch] Duncan, but we thought we had some good options there in our 22 that we did not utilise enough through our midfield." 

The prognosis for young forward Lincoln McCarthy, who has a navicular injury, is still uncertain but Scott said the options were not fantastic in the short-term either way.  

He said the club wasn't even thinking about having McCarthy available in the next few months but were looking at long-term options.

The Cats are waiting on the surgeon to give Jackson Thurlow the all-clear to resume running and contact work, while Scott remains optimistic that Nathan Vardy will be playing before the middle of the season. 

Recruit Rhys Stanley remained a chance to play NAB Challenge, he added.