COLLINGWOOD faces a major selection squeeze ahead of this Saturday's top-eight encounter with Kuwarna at the MCG, after leaving four 2023 premiership players in Melbourne for last week's trip to Perth.

Scott Pendlebury, Brayden Maynard and Jordan De Goey are all expected to return, while Brody Mihocek will need to prove his fitness later in the week after suffering an abdominal strain in the loss to Geelong in round eight.

Lachie Schultz has entered concussion protocols after a sickening incident in the 14-point win over Walyalup at Optus Stadium. 

Nick Daicos, Darcy Moore and Jamie Elliott were part of a group of players that remained in Perth over the weekend and underwent routine scans on concerns out of the game on Friday morning.

Daicos was hampered by a hip issue and closely tagged by Dockers defender Corey Wagner, but the Brownlow Medal fancy completed training on Monday at AIA Centre.

Moore (shoulder) and Elliott (abdominal) both trained on Monday ahead of Wednesday's main session.

Dan Houston and Pat Lipinski both missed training due to illness, while Will Hoskin-Elliott was on personal leave but will train on Wednesday. 

Collingwood is blessed with depth right now, with a handful of players on the fringes pushing for opportunities in Craig McRae's side.

Lachie Sullivan grabbed his opportunity against Walyalup with 17 disposals, while Ed Allan also got another chance and Oleg Markov played his first senior game of 2025. All three could make way, though.

Draftee Charlie West travelled to Western Australia and was included in the 26-man squad, but the young key forward wasn't picked after tweaking his foot at the start of the week.

West returned to Melbourne on Friday and put his hand up for a debut this weekend by kicking four goals in the 75-point win over the Northern Bullants to take the 19-year-old to 15 goals from five appearances in the VFL.

Will Hayes was also included in the squad against the Dockers and then kicked two goals from 16 disposals to keep his name in selection contention. 

Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell made a successful return in his first game in 380 days, playing the first half as planned, where he collected six clearances and 10 touches while being tagged in Preston.

The 31-year-old hadn't played since Anzac Day last year due to a lingering plantar fascia and then ankle issue and will now play three quarters and then a full game before pushing for AFL selection. 

Wil Parker produced his best VFL showing of the season with 28 disposals and 13 marks, while Harry DeMattia collected 27 disposals to continue his hunt for a debut. 

Collingwood has used the equal fewest players in the AFL – 29 – across the first nine games of 2025.