COLLINGWOOD defender Ben Reid is only a "reasonable" chance of facing the Brisbane Lions this week as he nurses a shoulder injury, but the club is confident midfielders Taylor Adams and Travis Varcoe will return.

Reid hurt his AC joint in Saturday's loss to Carlton at the MCG. He played out the game but was sore afterwards, and the club said although the premiership backman has avoided major injury, he will need to pass a fitness test this week to meet the Lions at the Gabba on Saturday night.

"It's not too bad fortunately, he's got a reasonable chance of playing this week," football boss Neil Balme told the club's website.

"We'll have to see how he goes and he'll be tested later on in the week."

Balme said the Magpies expected Adams (knee) and Varcoe (hamstring) to return to the side that slumped to its fifth defeat of the year last week, but was less hopeful about Tim Broomhead.

The smart Magpie midfielder rolled his ankle against the Blues and is unlikely to be fit to face the Lions, who will be chasing their second win of the season after being thrashed by Port Adelaide on the weekend. 



Nathan Brown injured his hamstring in the VFL last week but Balme said he had dodged a serious strain.

"The scans don't look too bad at all. He's a silly chance of being available this week but it's probably more likely he'll miss just one [week]," Balme said.

After Saturday's defeat, Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley stressed that veteran forward Travis Cloke would need to prove he can add value to the senior team before returning after being dropped ahead of the Pies' Anzac Day clash in round five.

But Cloke appears set for a longer stint away from the top level after missing Saturday night's VFL clash with a back injury. Balme said the club would take a "careful" approach with the 29-year-old.

"He was a bit sore during the week and it was treated. He came up fairly well for the weekend. But before the game he felt a fair bit of pain in his back and he couldn't really feel his legs as well as he should so it was a bit of a risk to play," Balme said.

"We think he's going to be all right this week going forward, but we have to be a bit careful about it being a back problem."