Collingwood will be without the steadying hand of veteran Steele Sidebottom for its season-shaping clash with Carlton on Thursday night.
But coach Craig McRae was certain Sidebottom’s absence and the Magpies’ scoring woes would not prompt an early SOS to small forward Bobby Hill.
Sidebottom suffered a corked hip during the Gather Round loss to Fremantle and was seen limping off the track on Tuesday morning.
“(Sidebottom) has actually got a knock on the hip pointer, so he won’t play,” McRae said.
“We have a six-day break and he had quite a lot of bleeding yesterday, yeah, he won’t play.
“You might have saw it right before halftime, he got a heavy knock in the back so he’s limited in movement.
“When you sort of have a shorter turnaround, this session is a bit of a ‘get moving’ thing.”
Collingwood has lacked firepower in front of goal this season, contributing to the 2-3 start.
The Magpies seemingly found the solution against GWS, but outside of that victory they have scored 78, 79, 65 and 39.
The addition of Hill could provide another avenue to goal but McRae said Collingwood would stick to its plan with its goal sneak.
“No, Bobby is on a plan, he’s on a pre-season mode that we’ve got the eye on long term,” he said.
“You watch him train today and he looks lively and exciting, the agility is back. We’ll just stick to the plan, it’s just exciting to see him improve session after session.
“I won’t say (a VFL timeline) at the moment, but we’re getting close to making one, because the body of work is starting to build up now.
“I think it’s been three or four weeks now of a pre-season and he’s doing a lot you don’t see out here because he’s in pre-season mode.”
McRae said he would consider swinging Jeremy Howe forward and could also parachute Reef McInnes in after he plays his first full VFL game this weekend.
