STAR midfielder Clayton Oliver has been ruled out of Melbourne's clash against Geelong on Thursday night.

Oliver has not played since round 10 due to a combination of a hamstring problem and a nasty infection that landed the Dees star in hospital.

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Despite optimism this week that Oliver would return to face the Cats, he was a no show when the Dees' squad was announced on Wednesday night.

"Unfortunately, Clayton will miss tomorrow night's match as he continues to rehab his hamstring," GM of Football Performance Alan Richardson said.  

"Clayton was close to being available for selection, but we have decided to instead take a conservative approach. It's very likely he will be fit and ready to go for our match next week." 

The Demons have made two changes to the side that beat Collingwood on King's Birthday, with Harrison Petty (foot) returning in place of Adam Tomlinson and James Jordon coming into the 22 in place of Charlie Spargo.

Rhys Stanley is the only addition to Geelong's side, returning for his first game since round five, with the ruckman replacing star midfielder Patrick Dangerfield, who was hospitalised last week due to a rib injury.

Cats coach Chris Scott is optimistic Dangerfield will be available for next week's match against Sydney.

"I fully expected him to declare himself fit (to play Melbourne), which he did, and he was just overruled on that one," Scott said. "Not by as wide a margin as I expected.

"(The medicos) say if the game was Sunday, Monday then he'd probably be OK to play, so that's a good sign for the following week."

THURSDAY, JUNE 22

Geelong v Melbourne at GMHBA Stadium, 7.20pm AEST

GEELONG

In: R.Stanley
Out: P.Dangerfield (ribs), J.Bowes (sub)

R14 sub: Jack Bowes

MELBOURNE

In: H.Petty
Out: A.Tomlinson (omitted), C.Spargo (omitted)

R13 sub: James Jordon