Geelong coach Mark Thompson has conceded his depleted ruck division will struggle to compete against Freo big man Aaron Sandilands.

"He'll probably get all the hit-outs. It is a little bit of a worry because he's so tall. He's got a huge advantage," Thompson said before training on Wednesday.

With captain Steven King unavailable and David Loats a week away after knee injury, the pressure will be on Cameron Mooney and Paul Chambers to try to limit the giant Docker’s influence.

"Cameron's just got to do his best, and Paul and whoever else plays in there… get their hands in there and compete."

"Even bringing it into neutral territory would be good."

Geelong’s midfielders were able to get first use against Richmond last Saturday despite Brad Ottens dominating the ruck with 32 hit-outs. Mooney finished as the Cats’ best, palming down the footy nine times.

In terms of selection, Darren Milburn will definitely play and Gary Ablett is likely to.

The 19-year-old Ablett has shrugged off a persistent groin injury by coming through two matches in the reserves and made it through three and a half quarters last week when Geelong's VFL side travelled to Tasmania.

"He's in at the moment but he's got to train. It's a week-to-week thing with him at the moment but hopefully we've managed him well enough for him to play."

Brent Moloney will also be strongly considered having completed a two-match ban, with Thompson believing his pace, long-kicking and hard-running to be exactly what the team needs against Freo.

Regarding the match-up for Matthew Pavlich, Thompson indicated Tom Harley, who has previously played on Michael Voss, Milburn, Jarad Rooke or Joel Corey were in line for the difficult assignment.

"You need someone who's able to play with him on the ball as a midfielder but then play as a defender as well," Thompson said.