A key piece of Collingwood’s forward line puzzle could soon slot back into place, with Jamie Elliott nearing an AFL return after almost two months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

Following Jaidyn Stephenson’s 10-game gambling ban, coach Nathan Buckley trialled Ben Reid in a taller attack than he would usually prefer in a scrappy win against the Western Bulldogs.

But Buckley could welcome Elliott back into that mix when the Pies take on North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium as he nears the end of a lengthy rehabilitation after hurting himself in round eight.

“He’s trained really strongly over the past couple of weeks, did a massive session on Sunday, will train fully through this week … whether it’s this week or next we’re looking forward to getting him back,” Buckley told reporters on Tuesday.

“He’s been really impressive.

“He hasn’t (had any setbacks).

“I think we communicated (his return at) the bye initially, but as we know, it’s just a matter of building guys up and getting their conditioning back to where we think they’re right to play.

“And not just to play but to perform at the top level.

“Jamie hasn’t missed a beat.”

The news isn’t so good for important midfielder Taylor Adams, who is still at least two weeks away from resuming from a groin problem that has frustrated him since round seven.

“He pushed really hard to get back early and thought that he would get back,” Buckley said.

“There was a game where he was nearly going to play (against Sydney in round 10) and it just didn’t stand up.

“We want to make sure that he’s absolutely ready to go before we pull the trigger.”

Jeremy Howe, who injured a calf in the second quarter of the nine-point win over the Dogs, is set to miss two to three matches.

Even with their wretched run with injuries this year, Collingwood sit second on the AFL ladder with an imposing 10-3 record.

But Buckley remains unimpressed by the quality of football his side has produced of late despite that lofty position and is no clearer on what his ideal forward line looks like without Stephenson.

“I don’t think that was a game where we can really judge if our forward structure was effective or not,” he said of the Bulldogs match.

“We’ve got a lot of growth in us and we’ve got to keep exploring our forward structure to see if we can find something better.”