Carlton should receive a boost for their Thursday night clash with St Kilda, with key forward Harry McKay and midfielder Zac Fisher set to be available for selection.
McKay missed the side’s win over Essendon with sore ribs, while Fisher has been battling an ankle injury since Round 1.
The St Kilda game being moved up from Saturday to Thursday won’t have an impact on the availability of either player.
Carlton Director of High Performance Andrew Russell provided an update on both.
“Harry’s a really strong chance of playing. He trained yesterday and will train today to put his hand up,” Russell told Carlton Media.
“Zac’s conditioning was a bit better than what we thought it might’ve been. He’s a really skilful player and he showed that skill, but we were really pleased with his physical output as well.”
It’s positive news for Carlton defender Caleb Marchbank too who has been plagued with injuries for well over a year now.
Russell believes Marchbank is only a few weeks away from overcoming the knee injury which has sidelined him so far this year.
"He's actually really fit, we just need to transfer that into ball conditioning. We'll do that over the next 2-3 weeks,” he said.
Similarly, former top five draft pick Paddy Dow suffered a minor knee injury during the lockdown and is nearing a return.
"He's turned a corner. He's back doing skills: he won't play this week but he's an outside chance the week after, depending on conditioning,” he said.
Jack Silvagni will miss the Saints game after copping a blow from Essendon’s Zac Merrett, but is expected to be available for the following week.
Charlie Curnow, Nic Newman and Brodie Kemp are the only other players on Carlton’s injury list and are all expected to miss the 2020 season with their respective knee injuries.
