The prospect that Melbourne captain James McDonald and star youngster Jack Trengove will be available for Sunday's clash with Sydney will depend on how they pull up from Thursday's training, according to coach Dean Bailey.
McDonald has been sidelined since Round 11 when he suffered a hamstring tear against Carlton, while Trengove missed last week's Fremantle clash because of a hip injury.
Both took part in the club's closed session in drizzling rain at Gosch's Paddock on Thursday morning and their recovery will be monitored closely ahead of the 5pm deadline for selection.
Bailey described McDonald's hamstring injury as "unusual".
"Last week he did most of the training and the last three or four minutes he just got a little bit sore, so we didn't take the risk," said Bailey.
"It's so far so good this week, he did some running on the weekend and if he can get through training and that last session he will be in contention."
Bailey seemed less bullish about Trengove's prospects, and said the Demons' fitness staff is mindful of not wanting to overwork the club's first-year players.
"He did some running on Monday and Tuesday and his hip flexor is still just a little bit tight," Bailey said of last year's No.2 pick.
"We'll put him through his paces with a running session today and see how he goes but I reckon he's still probably 50-50 to be honest."
"We'll see how he is on Saturday, it might be 51-49 ... so he's borderline at the moment."
"He's a super competitor, Jack, and he'll be doing everything he can to train well and try and get into the team on the weekend."
"We're probably a little bit cautious, but if he was available he certainly would get picked."
Bailey said the Demons gave away too many easy goals in last week's loss to Freo and they simply can't allow the Swans the same liberties on Sunday.
He said the focus this week would be on getting away to a fast start, and he expects a more settled attack to help in this regard.
"It's important for us for the rest of the year that (Jack) Watts and (Liam) Jurrah and (Colin) Sylvia and (Matthew) Bate and (Jamie) Bennell and (Aaron) Davey, they start to get some continuity down there," Bailey said.
"At the weekend coming up we'd like to think those guys will be prominent kicking goals."
"With those guys with some continuity, you'd like to think the scoreboard will look better for us."