Collingwood have lost Alan Didak but remain confident about Chris Dawes ahead of Friday night’s AFL preliminary final against Sydney.
They made one change for the ANZ Stadium clash, leaving out Didak because of his calf muscle injury and recalling Ben Sinclair.
Didak’s non-selection became apparent earlier on Thursday when he did not travel with the team to Melbourne airport after the Sorrento funeral for John McCarthy.
Didak and Dawes were hurt in the Saturday night semi-final win over West Coast, leaving them only six days to recover.
Dawes strained the medial ligament in his right knee.
He was limping noticeably at a team recovery session on Tuesday, but was moving much better the next day at training.
“Any preparation between one game and the next is all about whatever that individual needs to get himself up – we’re giving Dawesy every chance,” coach Nathan Buckley told Sport 927.
“Part of what you saw on Tuesday, the limp as much as anything, was trying not to extend it to give it the best recovery.
“He possibly could have been on crutches to optimise that recovery or possibly not at the session with his leg up, but we thought some mobility was going to be his best form of recovery.”
The Magpies made one change, recalling Ben Sinclair for Didak.
Sydney defender Heath Grundy will return from a one-game suspension and come in for forward Ben McGlynn, who is desperately trying to recover from a hamstring injury should the Swans make the grand final.
Adelaide recalled defender Andy Otten for only his fifth game of the season ahead of Saturday’s twilight preliminary final against Hawthorn at the MCG.
He is back in place of young defender Sam Shaw, who suffered a hamstring injury early in the semi-final win last Friday night against Fremantle.
A knee injury has sidelined Otten since round 17.
“While Andy hasn’t had the season he would’ve hoped for because of injury and inconsistency at times, he’s still a great player and he can easily come in and play a really important role for us,” coach Brenton Sanderson told the club website.
“He can play both tall and small, which suits us against Hawthorn.
“He was really good in the game against West Coast when he hurt his knee.”
Adelaide forward Jared Petrenko hurt his shoulder in the last minute of the Dockers match, but he was named and will aim to prove his availability at a Friday training session.
Hawthorn midfielder Jordan Lewis and utility Clinton Young are back from injury for Saturday’s twilight final against Adelaide at the MCG.
The pair missed the bruising qualifying final win over Collingwood, where forward Brendan Whitecross snapped his anterior cruciate ligament and later needed a knee reconstruction.
Along with Whitecross’ absence, the Hawks dropped Tom Murphy.
