COLLINGWOOD small forward Jamie Elliott could still be sidelined for up to two months, despite making progress over the past fortnight from a debilitating back injury.

Elliott was back out on the track and running repeat sprints on Tuesday, but the Magpies are still being extremely cautious with his return to the field.

Magpies coach Nathan Buckley said it was still difficult to pinpoint a definitive return date for the small forward.

Elliott has been battling an ongoing back condition, known as pars defect, and the club chose to take him out of training in late February to allow it time to heal.

"We still think he's going to need another week or two of running and probably another two or three weeks of conditioning on top of that," Buckley said on Tuesday.

"We think the long-term (prognosis) would have him [out for] 6-8 weeks but it could be 4-12. We won't see him in the next month, he's still got a lot of work to do to get back up to speed.

"He would need to jump every hurdle between now and then without a hiccup and we can't guarantee that, given the nature of his injury."

However, Buckley said there had been improvements in Elliott's recovery from the injury.

"He had a good session today and his progress over the last two weeks has been good," Buckley said.

"It's really hard to put a number on it. If Jamie has a bad day or a bad session, it might set him back a week or two.

"If he has a couple of good ones in a row it might pull it forward a week or two."

Meanwhile, hard-running defender Travis Varcoe will not be considered for selection for Saturday's game against St Kilda as he works his way back from a hamstring injury suffered on the eve of the season.

Varcoe is still another week away from playing and did plenty of conditioning work outside the main training group on Tuesday.

High-flying forward Jeremy Howe will be in the mix to make his debut for his new club after making the move from Melbourne in the off-season.

There is also talk about whether Pendlebury is carrying an injury.

"Pendles cops a heavy knock, he dusts himself off and he gets on with business," Buckley said.

"You're rarely 100 per cent these days and Pendles wasn't 100 per cent on the weekend.

"But he'll be better this weekend."

Buckley said it is too early to read much into statistics, but conceded their work at the contest needs rapid improvement.

"My eyes are telling me that we're not winning as much contested ball as we'd like ... or as we've enjoyed in the past," he said.

"Just because we've done it in the past doesn't make it happen now."

The Magpies are 14^th on the ladder after two rounds of the season, and Buckley did not hold back when asked about the level his side had been operating at. 

"We've probably been a 5 or 6 out of 10 over the first two weeks and we want to see our minimums at a seven and our best performances at 9s and 10s," Buckley said.