Lake played his first game since round one of the NAB Cup in the VFL on the weekend, after a calf injury and then a 'corkie' interrupted his lead-in to the season.
The former Western Bulldog made it through without incident, but his return to the seniors hinges on unseating a member of the Hawks team that drubbed West Coast by 50 points in impressive fashion at Patersons Stadium on Sunday.
"He got through well, so he's got the one game under his belt, which is great, but he obviously just needs to keep playing and get that match conditioning, and he'll be somewhere thereabouts," Hawthorn head of coaching and development Chris Fagan told AFL.com.au on Monday.
"We haven't really chatted about the team for the weekend yet, but the guys who played yesterday performed well, and provided nobody pulls up sore or is too fatigued from the game, you wouldn't think we'd change our team a great deal."
Midfielder Brad Sewell, subbed off during the win over the Eagles, was due to have a scan on his hamstring on Monday afternoon.
"We're not certain yet how he's pulled up, but there wasn't a great deal wrong with him when he came off – he just had an awareness," Fagan said.
"The scan will reveal whether there's any damage or not."
Meanwhile, small forward Michael Osborne and emerging midfielder Brendan Whitecross have both taken further steps toward a return to the playing arena after knee reconstructions last year.
Osborne, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in round seven of the 2012 season, made his comeback alongside Lake with Box Hill on Sunday.
Fagan said the popular veteran had enjoyed a trouble-free return.
"He was a little bit scratchy, but that's to be expected after 12 months out of the game," Fagan said.
"It was great to see him back out there playing, and taking a step towards getting his career up and going again.
"Being out for that long, he'll probably need at least a month of footy to get himself up and going again."
And Whitecross, who tore his ACL in the club's first final last year, has re-joined full training and could be back playing as soon as round eight.
"He'll be another six or seven weeks away, because you need to have a period of full training and get through that unscathed before you can play again, but he's really on track," Fagan said.
"He's had an almost perfect recovery from his knee reconstruction, and he's in good shape.
"He looks fit, so it's just a matter of getting football conditioning into him now."
Brian Lake is a defender in AFL Fantasy. He averaged 76 points in 2012. Register your team at our AFL Fantasy hub.
