MELBOURNE welcomes back key defender Jared Rivers for the Queen's Birthday clash with Collingwood at the MCG today and he might find himself fronting up to a fellow returnee-from-injury Anthony Rocca.

Rivers last played against Fremantle a month ago when the Dees recorded their only win of the season.

He has since been laid low by a hip injury.

"A couple of weeks off has helped it a lot. I'm raring to go," Rivers told the Herald Sun on Sunday.

"It's a big day for us as a footy club, so hopefully we can put up a good showing for the fans who come along."

Melbourne beat the Magpies by 13 points in the corresponding before slumping to finish 14th.

Collingwood went on to lose in a preliminary final to premiers Geelong.

"We've just got to go out there and stick to our game plan and try and have a crack at them. They're in good form, so it's a great challenge. We've just got to take it right up to them," Rivers said.

"We've just lacked consistency over the whole year. We have a young list but that's not really an excuse. We've just got to try and get better for the last half of the year, try and improve.

"When you've only won one game, it's really disappointing. We've just got to stick tight as a group and work together.

"We obviously play our best footy when we're working together, doing those one-percenters. Hopefully we can show that against Collingwood."

The Demons have brought in Daniel Bell to replace James Frawley who injured his shoulder at training on Friday.