HAWTHORN midfield coach Brendon Bolton says it's unlikely the Hawks will opt for a hard tag on any of Collingwood's on-ball stars in Friday night's preliminary final.

Bolton says it'll be up to the entire midfield to win the crucial battle against the likes of Dane Swan, Scott Pendlebury and Dale Thomas.

"It's about backing your whole group," Bolton said at Waverley Park on Monday.

"They rotate so many through on ball, I think tags are really difficult, so it's just a matter of having relentless pressure for the whole time."

Hawthorn lost its only previous clash with the Magpies this season by 41 points in round 15.

Bolton said the Hawks would need to exert more pressure over four quarters to reverse that result.

"They're a team that you can be evenly matched with for a while, and they can really blast you away in 10 minutes," he said.

"It's so important that we have a lot of pressure through the midfield, don't hang our defenders out to dry, and make sure that we can move the ball a little bit quicker."

Bolton reported no fresh injury concerns for Hawthorn out of Friday night's win over the Sydney Swans.

First-year player Paul Puopolo grabbed his hamstring late in the match, but Bolton reiterated the club's earlier statement that he was only suffering cramp.

The 23-year-old joined his teammates in a light recovery run on Monday.

Star forward Lance Franklin, who sensationally overcame a hyper-extended knee to boot four goals against the Swans, didn't take part in the session, but Bolton said the Coleman medallist had pulled up well and was likely to increase his workload throughout the week.

"He did a really good job to play on the weekend and he's pulled up really well," Bolton said.

"I would've thought his body will tell us how much [training] he can handle [this week].

"But he got through the game really well, so I think he can tolerate a bit of load."

Mark Macgugan writes for hawthornfc.com.au and covers Hawks news for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @mmacgugan.