HAWTHORN full-back James Frawley remains in doubt for Saturday night's critical clash with Sydney because of a jarred back.

He missed the second half of last week's narrow win over St Kilda and is rated only a 50 per cent chance of playing at the SCG, a game the Hawks need to win to guarantee a top-four finish and the double chance in the finals.

"He's a little bit sore, it's settling down and he's probably 50-50 whether he plays," Hawks high performance manager Andrew Russell told hawthornfc.com.au.

Skipper Jarryd Roughead appears certain to return from a two-week ankle injury after completing training on Tuesday. Ruckman Jonathon Ceglar and midfielder Ricky Henderson are also rated as good chances to play after missing last week.

However, Grant Birchall's long-awaited return from various knee injuries has been delayed for at least one more week.

"He's inching closer," Russell said.

"(But) he we don't feel he's done enough football work to play this week, so we'll assess whether he's ready to play next week."

Hawthorn will have its pre-finals bye next weekend, however Box Hill will be playing in the opening week of the VFL finals.

The Hawks have also ruled out defender James Sicily from a surprise return to football this weekend.

"He feels great and he has since week one. But we're just waiting for the bone to heal and then we'll see him out there but we don't expect it to be this week," Russell said.

Midfielder Will Langford is about two weeks away from resuming after a hamstring injury, however defender Kurt Heatherley suffered a significant hamstring injury in the VFL on Saturday and is considered unlikely to play again this year.