VICTORIOUS Geelong coach Chris Scott has confirmed star recruit Jeremy Cameron will make his eagerly awaited debut against the Eagles next round and is confident star midfielder Patrick Dangerfield has escaped serious injury and will be fit to join him.
Cameron has been nursing a hamstring complaint in recent weeks and is yet to make his debut for the Cats since his much-publicised off-season move from the Giants.
Geelong erred on the side of caution by leaving Cameron out of the side that defeated North Melbourne by 30 points on Sunday evening, but Scott says the prized recruit will be fit to tackle the dangerous Eagles at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.
"He (Cameron) is ready to go and he is in," Scott declared.
"I am putting a bit of pressure on our medical and conditioning staff as well, but it's about time."
Scott believes Dangerfield will also be fit to take on the Eagles, despite the fact the 2016 Brownlow Medallist left the field with an ankle concern midway through the final quarter of the clash against the Kangaroos.
CATS v KANGAROOS Full match coverage and stats
Dangerfield said after the game the injury was just a "minor tweak" and Scott confirmed that was the case when he spoke post-match.
"That’s the feedback I have got," Scott said.
"We didn’t feel comfortable subbing him out even though he wasn’t going to play any further part in the game.
"Our best guess is that he will be right for next week, so we shouldn’t sub him out of the game."
The Cats were hardly at their best against the Roos, but a 64-43 dominance in the inside 50 count suggests the margin could have been even greater if not for some poor conversion in front of goal.
While happy to have banked another four points and move back inside the top eight, Scott knows his side still has a lot of improvement left in it.
"I don’t think we are in love with the way we are going," he said.
"We have got a lot of improvement in us and a lot of hard games coming up and I hope the execution improves and we will certainly work on it.
"There are a lot of specific areas that we are off in.
"Tonight in isolation we competed really hard and gradually got on top in the game, but for some execution the scoreboard could have been very different."
North Melbourne coach David Noble took plenty of positives from his team's performance and believes a win isn't too far away for his young side.
"Our guys really came to play today and I thought it was a great learning experience for us and our group against a top-field team," Noble said after the loss.
"I was really proud of how the guys hung in there for that sustained period of time."
Noble singled out Kayne Turner for his successful tagging job on Geelong skipper Joel Selwood and mentioned experienced duo Ben Cunnington and Todd Goldstein for their usual consistent performances.
Cunnington collected 29 disposals and seven clearances in a dominant midfield display, while Goldstein picked up 29 hitouts and three clearances of his own.
"We want to keep stepping forward and we don't want to pat ourselves on the back for effort as we want results," Noble added.
"We have to continue to chase those steps forward.
"Today I was really pleased when we got challenged and really held our ground."
Noble confirmed in-form defender Aaron Hall will miss next week's clash against Fremantle due to the compulsory 12-day concussion protocol, but expects to regain young onballer Luke Davies-Uniacke (calf) and Cameron Zurhaar (concussion).
