SYDNEY Swans defender Nick Malceski could be back playing football for the club's reserves in as few as four weeks.

According to assistant coach John Longmire, the 23-year-old is “ticking all the boxes” in his recovery following radical knee surgery after he ruptured his ACL in the club’s round one NAB cup clash against Hawthorn.

“He’s been running for a few weeks and is changing direction,” Longmire said.

“So it’s a possibility if everything goes well. The challenge is when he ups the ante more with his training.”

However Longmire insists that the club will not rush the defender back into action prematurely.

“We’re not putting any pressure on him. We’re letting him find his own way with that.

“The physical and medical boys are just going by how he’s feeling and so far he’s been feeling well with every step up he’s made in his program. So we’ve just got to maintain that without forcing him into anything he’s not ready to do.”

The Swans haven’t had a smooth run when it comes to the health of their defensive personnel.

Last week Tadhg Kennelly was a late withdrawal for their match against Geelong. He will have to get through Friday’s training session before being included in the squad to travel to Melbourne for the club’s Telstra Dome meeting with North Melbourne on Sunday.

Despite returning to action with the reserves after a spell on the sidelines with a knee injury, Peter “Spida” Everitt is no certainty to resume his ruck duties for the seniors this week.

“I’d say at this point he might be spending another week in the reserves, depending on how he’s pulled up from training yesterday,” Longmire said.