MELBOURNE'S forward woes are set to receive a boost this weekend with key forward Chris Dawes in line to make his first appearance of 2014.
Dawes is confident he is over a persistent calf injury and says he could even return to the senior line-up for Saturday's clash with Carlton if called upon.
The 25-year-old has endured an injury-riddled pre-season and failed to play in the NAB Cup. His only hit-out was an intraclub clash in which he aggravated his calf.
"I’ve had a good three-week block of training now and I’ve got over the calf injury and got my body conditioned to a point where I can comfortably play AFL without any great risk," Dawes told Channel Nine's Footy Classified.
"I’m ready to play barring any mishaps and whether that be AFL or VFL, that’ll probably be determined later in the week."
Dawes was sent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra last month for specialist opinion on his calf.
He missed the start of pre-season following knee surgery, stemming from hamstring and ankle injuries.
Dawes believes he can have an impact on a Melbourne side averaging just 11 scoring shots per match over the past fortnight.
"I think for a team that’s struggling, we can’t afford to miss too many key senior players," he said.
"It’s pretty well documented for us that’s been a lot of our tall forward line. With me out there, I think that’ll straighten us up a fair bit."
In further good news for the Demons, youngster Jesse Hogan has taken his first steps in returning from stress complaints in his back.
With Mitch Clark away from the club as he deals with personal issues, the Demons' key forward struggles are compounded each week by Hogan's absence.
Ruled out on the eve of round one, Hogan completed his first running session on Monday following the injury.
"It’s feeling good. I did my first running session just then and it’s feeling really good," he told Footy Classified.
"At the moment it’s still very symptomatic and I’ll take each session as it comes. I’ll see how it pulls up but at the moment there’s really no timeframe."
"Obviously I’m still easing into it so it wasn’t really a hard session but I felt good while I was running."
Hogan completed a light 20-minute session at Gosch's Paddock on Monday under the watchful eye of club fitness staff.
