Hawthorn star Cyril Rioli left training early on Thursday, but was named for Friday night’s AFL blockbuster against West Coast.
The speedy utility has missed the past two games with a shoulder injury and the Hawks are desperate to have him back in action with the finals a week away.
Rioli did not appear in any discomfort before he left Thursday’s light session at Waverley Park a few minutes before it ended.
“He’s trained all week and we’ll make the call after training today,” coach Alastair Clarkson said.
“But he’s pretty close and, unless something happens today, we’d expect him to be named tonight.”
The Hawks dropped Xavier Ellis, while the Eagles lost Matt Rosa (collarbone) and Eric Mackenzie (hamstring).
Mitch Brown and Jacob Brennan will return for West Coast.
The MCG clash between these two teams will have a massive bearing on the top eight.
Hawthorn are top, but a loss could drop them to third and cost them a home qualifying final.
The Eagles are fourth, level on points with fifth-placed Collingwood, who should beat Essendon.
Clarkson said last week’s pulsating win over Sydney and the Eagles match represented an ideal finals build-up for the flag favourites.
“We couldn’t have had a better dress rehearsal than Sydney round 22 and then West Coast round 23 – one of them interstate and the other one at home,” he said.
“We’ll get another chance to test ourselves against really good opposition.”
Two key players for the Eagles will be Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui, the best ruck combination in the league.
While Clarkson describes them as “one very, very experienced (Cox) and one very, very athletic (Naitanui)”, he added they did not make the Eagles unbeatable.
“Somewhere along the line, some of the sides have been able to do well enough against them to take the points,” he said.
“They’re formidable, both those players – they give them first look of the ball on numerous occasions through the stoppages.
“But they’re not outstandingly dominant in terms of clearances in the competition or scores from stoppages.”
Starts have been a worry for the Hawks over the past few weeks – they were 38 points down early in the second term against the Swans.
But Clarkson is looking on the positive side, noting his team’s ability to rally from such a dire situation.
“We came up against a pretty talented side in Sydney last week and, at some point in time, whether it’s the first quarter or some other stage of the game, you’re not going to be able to hold Sydney,” he said.