For all the talk about Brent Macaffer’s tenacious tagging, North Melbourne coach Brad Scott is more worried about Scott Pendlebury’s silky skills.

Macaffer, fresh from a blanket job on Richmond captain Trent Cotchin, is again set to be a central figure when Collingwood clash with North at the MCG on Saturday.

After a week of scrutiny, Scott tipped the umpires would pay closer attention to Macaffer’s tactics in the battle of two in-form AFL sides.

But Scott believes it’s skipper Pendlebury that shapes as a true gamebreaker for the Magpies.

“They were terrific again last week and I think they’ve got – probably Gary Ablett aside – the guy I regard as the best player in the competition,” former Collingwood assistant coach Scott said of Pendlebury.

“(In Collingwood’s start to the season) there is one player that stands out, Scott Pendlebury. He stands out a fair bit.

“I’m biased. Because I’ve seen him up close and personal. I’ve seen his progression from draftee to an elite player.

“We’re certainly not going to let him run around by himself.”

Jack Ziebell moved well at training on Wednesday and could return from a shoulder injury on the weekend.

Macaffer could head to Ziebell if the midfielder plays, while Brent Harvey and Daniel Wells also loom as likely targets for the man who has curbed the influence of stars Cotchin, Steve Johnson and Kieren Jack in recent weeks.

Scott suggested the umpires would be paying closer attention to Macaffer on Saturday, but that it was up to his team to show their midfield depth, and work together to beat the tag.

“They’ve probably got to. They’re human. It’s going to be pretty hard to avoid,” Scott said.

“I’m not going to get into the debate about legalities of how he’s doing it. The umpires will do their job and we’ll make sure we do ours.

“We always talk about supporting our players, but Brent Harvey’s been tagged for 360 of 366 games. He’s used to it. The guys that play with him are used to that happening. Daniel Wells is used to being tagged.

“We need to make sure Collingwood’s midfield have their hands full on the whole, instead of Macaffer himself.”

Scott rated Ziebell a 50-50 chance of bolstering his side’s midfield depth as they aim to make it four wins on the trot, while captain Andrew Swallow (Achilles) is likely to return via the VFL next week.