THE BRISBANE Lions are taking a cautious approach when it comes to players coming back from injury, with attacking defender Josh Drummond set to miss another week.

Drummond injured a calf early in his side's round 11 loss to Carlton nearly a month ago, but assistant coach Justin Leppitsch said he wouldn't be rushed back into the side.

Leppitsch said Drummond was an important part of the team but they could not afford to risk him re-injuring his calf in the lead up to the finals.

"You've got to be very careful with injuries now, particularly with soft-tissue injuries," Leppitsch said on Thursday.

"Another four weeks on the sidelines really puts back potential September participation.

"We're very mindful with him, he's got a bit of a history with ongoing injury, so we've just got to manage him very carefully."

The Lions are in fifth spot on the ladder and the defensive coach said the club was trying to ensure players were available for the finals.

"At the back half of the year with an injury, you really only get one chance to get it right,” Lepptisch said.

"It's very important at this time of the year that you be very conservative with your injury process to make sure when the players are back that they're 100 per cent fit.

"If you lost them for eight or 10 weeks, well, you're losing them at a time when you need them most."

Leppitsch pointed out that players coming back off long-term injuries – such as Joel Patfull and Daniel Merrett, who each missed four rounds before playing against Melbourne last weekend – need to get footy fitness back, as well as just general fitness.

"Joel and Daniel are still coming to grips with the speed of the game again – they've got one game back in their legs, another this week and then hopefully by next week they're back to running on top of the ground and playing their best football.

"You don't often play your best football coming back from injury, you always take a couple of weeks to get back in, so for them to get the run last week was really good.

"It's one thing to be uninjured, but you also have to be fit for football, and that's the bit that takes an extra month of conditioning and work and running."