> Mick Malthouse and Nick Maxwell at the traditional captain and coach press conference held at Fox Sports Studios

COLLINGWOOD captain Nick Maxwell says added depth and finals experience has put his side is in its best position to win a premiership since he has been at the club.

Maxwell, in his seventh season at the Pies and his second as skipper, believes his club could not be better placed to claim its first flag since 1990.

Collingwood finished the year as minor premier and meets the Western Bulldogs in a qualifying final at the MCG on Saturday night.

“We’ve got a group who’s gone through [a bit],” Maxwell said. “A lot of the group’s gone through two losing preliminary finals and one losing semi-final, so we’ve been there.

“Guys have had experience at that level of intensity, because it obviously goes up a fair bit when you get into finals.

“So I think that our guys are better prepared this year than they ever have been ... our depth this year, we’ve got a lot of confidence in any guys that we pick going in that they’re going to do the job and do the role that they’re given.”

In an added boost for Maxwell’s side this week, the Magpies could regain up to four senior players for Saturday’s clash.

Star playmaker Alan Didak (shoulder), Leigh Brown (suspension) and defensive duo Simon Prestigiacomo (corked thigh) and Ben Johnson (illness) are all in line for a recall.

Coach Mick Malthouse said the club was unlikely to make a final call on its line-up until as late as Friday morning, following its final training session of the week.

“Are there going to be changes? I suspect there could be, but I wouldn’t know how many,” Malthouse said.

“The medical staff, I will meet after this interview, and they will give me the tick for some and probably, unfortunately, a cross for others - or it may be a ‘wait until Friday’.

“There's no use saying we don’t take players in who are injured because it does happen. But you know some players can carry it (injury), some players can’t... if there’s any doubt that a player’s not going to get through the match in the short term, it’s a waste of time.

“Because you don’t want that worry over the player’s head, nor my head nor his teammates’ heads. They’re the assessments that get made by the end of the week, so they train and then follow up on Friday.”

While many believe Brown will be an automatic replacement for Fraser - who came in to replace the suspended big man against Hawthorn at the weekend - Malthouse said factors such as the weather may dictate that selection.

The Pies’ VFL side lost its elimination final at the weekend but Malthouse said several players, including lively forward Paul Medhurst, had performed well and would remain in the mix throughout the finals.

The Western Bulldogs will be without several of their own regulars but the Pies coach pointed to an upset by his own club in 2002 as an example of the pitfalls of a wounded opponent.

“We went into a game with less than adequate form, without our captain and a couple of others and played a favourite on their ground, Port Adelaide, and we beat them,” he said.

“And that’s one of the great lessons in life is that, in a two-horse race, I remind people that those sitting in the grandstand never win you a game.

“They can’t kick, mark or handpass or do anything else but barrack. When a side crosses the white line, that’s your best side.”