Nick Dal Santo looks set to make his long-awaited return from hamstring surgery for North Melbourne in Saturday’s AFL clash with Greater Western Sydney.

Stand-in Kangaroos coach Darren Crocker said the experienced midfielder was “pushing for senior selection” but had two more important training sessions to get through.

“Our conditioning staff and medicos are really confident that he’s done everything to be ready to go,” Crocker said.

Dal Santo has missed the last nine games due to a hamstring injury he sustained in Round 2 against Brisbane which required surgery.

Crocker is also confident Daniel Wells will play again this season, despite struggling with an Achilles injury.

“We’re pretty confident you’ll see Daniel Wells running around in a North Melbourne jumper before the end of the year,” Crocker said.

“When we do we’ll all be licking our lips because he’s such a valuable player to us, and we know what Daniel Wells brings to the footy club.”

North Melbourne aren’t alone in struggling with injuries.

Greater Western Sydney’s Shane Mumford joined key defenders Joel Patfull and Phil Davis on the injury list this week after suffering a season-ending ankle injury against Collingwood last weekend.

But Crocker is still expecting a strong showing from the Giants, who have a number of high draft picks ready to show what they can do at the highest level.

“Yep, the Giants have a few injuries but, god, you look at their replacements. They’ve got first round draft picks everywhere,” he said.