Burns, 33, trained strongly at Gosch's Paddock on Tuesday but Malthouse refused to confirm whether the veteran was a certain starter for this weekend.
"He's where we thought he'd be at, so we'll just now weigh it up," he said.
"I don't know if the doctor is as convinced as you or me, so I'll talk to him again tomorrow and we'll either name him with coverage or name him and be totally confident.
"We will put it in the paper one way or another. If he's comprehensively out, he's out, we won't name him, and if he's a chance above 50 per cent, we'll name him and add coverage. If he's in, he gets named and plays.
"We can't do any more than that."
Malthouse said the captain, who has missed the past two games with the calf complaint, still had to prove himself fit ahead of this weekend.
"He's got a few areas we need to look at," he said.
"The process is, medical will clear him, the player will want to play and we then have a selection dilemma.
"As I said, walking back with the doctor [from Gosch's Paddock], until he's totally convinced, Scott doesn't get past base one."
Both Simon Prestigiacomo and Shane Wakelin trained on Wednesday, with a selection battle looming between the veteran defenders.
Prestigiacomo played last week against Adelaide but wrenched a shoulder during the match, while Wakelin played 19 games for the year before missing the past two.
"Horses for courses, taking into consideration form and history, so we'll weigh that up," Malthouse said.
"[Prestigiacomo's availability] … again, that's the medical assessment that will be made after this.
"We're not going to take people in there who can't get through games of football. If something happens on the day, it's out of your control."
Malthouse said finals were "notorious for having faith in people" that weren't fit.
"There have been too many sides burnt in the past. I don't know why; you might get through home-and-away matches but very few players get through finals football [while injured].
"You've got to be so careful picking players that cannot get through a full game of football."
Midfielder Shane O'Bree and forward Travis Cloke did not appear during Wednesday's session, but Malthouse said there were no injury concerns regarding the spearhead.
But he was coy when asked if Cloke was a definite starter.
"I wouldn't have thought anyone would be a definite."
