SYDNEY Swans coach John Longmire will be sweating on the availability of star forward Lance Franklin for Friday night's crucial clash with Collingwood against the SCG.

Franklin missed last week's disappointing loss to Geelong with a back injury, the same issue that caused him to be a late withdrawal from the Swans round match against West Coast in Perth.

He returned to the side to face Adelaide a week later but was noticeably stiff and sore, with Longmire admitting after the match that Franklin should not have run out against the Crows.

Longmire said Franklin was determined to play against Adelaide to support his good friend Adam Goodes, who had taken personal leave to deal with the constant boos of opposition fans this season.

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The coach admitted it was impossible to tell if the three-time Coleman medallist had done himself more damage by playing under duress.

"It probably didn't help him – obviously if he'd missed that game he would have been feeling a bit better the week after, but you don't really know that at the time," Longmire said on Monday.

"We were confident going in (to the Adelaide game) that he'd be feeling OK, and he kicked three goals and played quite well for us.

"It's not until afterwards when you're looking in the rear vision mirror that you understand that he was a bit sore during that game.

"It certainly impacted on his ability to play last week."

Franklin is expected to train with the main group on Wednesday at the SCG under the watchful eyes of the Swans' medical staff, and the five-time All Australian won't be alone.

Midfielder Ben McGlynn, who was a match day withdrawal from last week's side with a tight hamstring, fellow speedster Gary Rohan and ruckman Mike Pyke will all be looking to prove their fitness ahead of the Magpies clash.

Rohan has missed the past five matches after tearing a hamstring in the side's round 14 win over Port Adelaide and the Swans have missed his tackling pressure inside their forward 50.

Pyke has battled a knee problem for the past two months and has missed three of the Swans' seven matches since their mid-season bye in round 12, including the past two, and Longmire says he's hopeful the Canadian can get back onto the field this week.

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"Pykey's first six to eight weeks of the season were really good, and then his knee started to grumble along a bit and influence his performances a bit too much," Longmire said.

"We've tried to manage that by having a game off here and there, but this time we've actually taken the load off him for a couple of weeks and we're hoping he responds really well from that.

"He feels really good today, but it's a training issue and then whether we're prepared to take him into the game and play him."

While that quartet endeavour to work their way back onto the park, Longmire's other concern is the inconsistent output of the players who have been on the field.

The Swans were smashed in the midfield by Geelong, losing the centre clearances 14-7 and the contested possession count 147-120.

The same group of players handed the Crows an on-ball master class at the SCG just seven days earlier, and Longmire says it's frustrating that the team's up-and-down season is continuing.

"It's always about work rather than relying upon talent, we've been able to get some really good results both as individuals and as a team through work-rate," Longmire said.

"The week before they were outstanding against Adelaide, so it's just about consistency.

"Our aim is to get better this week, it's about a consistency of effort across the board from all of our players.

"We haven't played the way we want to play - you can't shy away from that. We've spoken about it but now it's about making sure we put it into actions.

"We haven't come up to scratch over the last month, it's time to get going."