WHILE Geelong is set to be without two of its key players this weekend, the Bulldogs will regain a pair of theirs in time for Saturday's top-of-the-table clash at Skilled Stadium.
Ryan Griffen and Scott Welsh will rejoin the Dogs' line-up after the former missed Sunday's win over Melbourne for family reasons, and the latter was a late withdrawal with back soreness.
Coach Rodney Eade also confirmed Mitch Hahn's availability after the forward snapped his plantar fascia tendon on Sunday.
Defender Tom Williams will miss another week with a shoulder injury, while Robert Murphy, Adam Cooney and Dale Morris had a light session on the track on Wednesday but are all fine to play.
Eade said while injured Geelong players Gary Ablett and Cameron Ling will be "sorely missed", he's confident the Cats have the depth to field a very strong side regardless.
"They're going to have two good replacements. James Kelly will be back, who's a good player, and I think Brent Prismall is the other one," he said at Whitten Oval.
"They've got some talent coming back and they've got a lot of depth."
Eade said the loss of the Cats' two premier midfielders was somewhat disappointing, given the match looms as a measure of where his improving side currently sits.
"We'd probably prefer to play them at full strength so we can get an idea of where we're at," he said.
"We've under no illusions of the big challenge we've got. They're a fantastic team and we've got a lot of respect for them.
"They're the best team in the competition and we're chasing them. I think the weekend will give us an indication of where we're at."
Eade said he is expecting a "fairly aggressive game", owing to the ability of both sides when it comes to contested ball.
He also said the build up to the match has been business as usual for the club, with the players not getting involved in the hype surrounding the highly-anticipated game.
"There's a fair bit in the media but we've tried to keep things as normal as possible," he said.
"We've only got a six-day break from last week so it comes around pretty quickly, and we don't have a long time to dwell on it.
"The players are excited about it but not much has been said yet."
The Dogs' coach expressed his disappointment the sell-out match is being held at Skilled Stadium and not in Melbourne, as seat allocation will greatly disadvantage the club's supporters.
Eade then highlighted the need for his side to make a good start in an attempt to nullify the parochial crowd.
"Probably 95 per cent of the supporters are going to be Geelong, so there's going to be a fair bit of noise," he said.
"Our players can cope with that pretty well. It will be the sounds of silence, hopefully.
"Silence is golden, so hopefully we can have that on the weekend."
