Essendon star Zach Merrett is recovering well from his round-one concussion as Adelaide prepare to challenge Richard Douglas’ AFL ban at the tribunal on Tuesday night.

Douglas will front the tribunal in a bid to overturn his suspension for a high bump which knocked out Merrett in the first quarter of Friday night’s game at Etihad Stadium.

Merrett played no further part in the game after the collision.

The Crows midfielder was charged with rough conduct, with the incident classed as careless conduct with medium impact to the head.

Adelaide are gearing up for a grand final rematch against premiers Richmond on Thursday and risk a $10,000 fine if the challenge is unsuccessful.

Merrett trained fully on Monday and the Bombers are hopeful he will be available to face Fremantle on Saturday.

“The docs conducted a cognitive test on him today, which he actually passed, but that doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to play this week,” football boss Dan Richardson said.

“All of the signs are positive and we’ll just monitor how the week progresses.

“I would suggest unless there’s some symptoms around not feeling quite right, he should be right to play.”

Collingwood have until 11am on Tuesday to decide whether they will also roll the dice at the tribunal after key forward Mason Cox copped a one-game ban for striking Daniel Howe.

Cox caught Howe high with his elbow in the third quarter of Saturday night’s opening-round loss to Hawthorn at the MCG.

Match review officer Michael Christian classified the incident as intentional conduct with low impact to the head.

“We took into account that the action had the potential to cause a much more serious injury,” Christian told the AFL website.

Teammate Brayden Maynard was charged with staging and fined $1000 for exaggerating contact from Hawthorn’s Tom Mitchell.

Brisbane midfielder Mitch Robinson can also accept a one-game suspension for striking St Kilda’s Seb Ross during the Saturday afternoon match at Etihad Stadium.