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Captain Nathan Buckley is confident he will return to the Collingwood line-up during the second half of the 2007 season, despite suffering a hamstring setback during training on Wednesday.

Speaking to the media at the MCG on Thursday just prior to launching The Biggest Aussie Pie Night, the six-time Copeland Trophy winner described the injury as "probably a little bit of a strain".

But he is expecting a much shorter recovery period compared to when the injury first occurred at the beginning of the season.

"The hammy is tight. It’s probably not as bad as it was at the beginning of the year," explained Buckley.

"So it will set me back a couple of weeks, but I’ll be dealing with it functionally for the duration of this injury.

"I know that I’m a lot more advanced now than I was at the beginning of the year, but it’s still not able to cope with the volume probably more than the intensity that we were asking it to get through yesterday."

Earlier in the week Buckley was encouraged when he was able to get through a testing session, and feels that will aid this next phase of his recovery considerably.

"I had a session on Monday that was a speed session and I got through it really well.

"I did a lot of short, sharp, explosive sprints and starts, and that was something that I wouldn’t have been able to do six to eights weeks before that."

"I’ve learnt a lot over the last three or four weeks, a lot more about the injury, and what I can cope with and what I can’t, and it actually has me a lot more bullish about my prospects later in the year than I was a month ago.

"I’m pretty confident that I’ll be thereabouts, it’s just a matter of whether it happens in the right timeframe for me to contribute to the footy club."

When the subject of retirement was inevitably raised, Buckley said he's only focused on continuing his 275-game career and contributing to the success of the side.

"I probably thought about it earlier in the year, what happens if everything turns sour, and there’s a possibility of that, I don’t shy away from that.

"But I’ll be doing everything I can to play footy again for Collingwood, and that’s what my full focus and endeavours will be around.

"Meanwhile, I’ll be supporting the boys through what they’ve done. Hopefully they can continue their form, and our season goes as long as it can, which gives me as much time as I can."