PATRICK Dangerfield trained strongly on Wednesday and will "100 per cent" face Gold Coast on Saturday night, says Geelong teammate Mitch Duncan.
Dangerfield has been reported to be sore after a bruising encounter with Hawthorn's Jarryd Roughead on Easter Monday, and hasn't been as influential as usual in the two games since.
But the Cats are preparing for the Brownlow medallist to face the Suns at Metricon Stadium, despite speculation he is in line for a rest.
"Yes, absolutely, 100 per cent," Duncan said, when asked if Dangerfield would play.
Daniel Menzel will return after he was rested against Collingwood, while Scott Selwood, who has played two games in the VFL since overcoming a pre-season toe complaint, could be considered.
Duncan said the younger Selwood could help provide cover for brother Joel after the captain was tagged by Magpie Levi Greenwood on Sunday, or even return a tag to the in-form Gary Ablett.
"He's pushing his case," he said.
"I'm not sure what the coaches are thinking but his performance on the weekend was pretty good.
"We'll have to put a bit of time into [Ablett] … We haven't spoken about it yet. I'm sure the coaches will talk about it when they get together.
"You probably can't [shut down] the little master. He's back in some good form.
"It's just about that team ethos of winning the ball first and not allowing them to have the footy."
Ablett had 45 disposals and 18 clearances against North Melbourne on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, the Cats' skipper was kept to 17 by Greenwood, which has led questions about whether the other midfielders do enough to help him out when he faces a blanketing opponent.
Duncan said there was a challenging balance between focusing on their designated role and stepping out of it to cover for Selwood.
"The 'argy bargy' has kind of gone out the window a little bit, but obviously you have to protect him the best we can," he said.
"It's something we'll try and improve on, or look back and work on."
Selwood's battle with Greenwood spilled into the post-match and then the news this week when the camera caught him venting his frustration to Pies' captain Scott Pendlebury.
Duncan said players weren't generally concerned about their on-field interactions becoming public.
"You just have to watch what you say, it's pretty simple," he said.
"I don't do too much talking, just huffing and puffing out there.
"The broadcast deal is a massive part of the AFL's revenue and in turn it comes back to the players.
"We'll just have to deal with that and it's just part of working.
"In the heat of the battle, you do say some things that you do regret but it's just the matter of the game and our business."
He said Selwood had well and truly put the incident with Pendlebury to bed.
"I think the Joel and 'Pendles' one probably got blown up out of proportion," he said.
"They've spoken and worked it out … by all reports, they've moved on pretty quickly."
