COLLINGWOOD recruit Dan Houston has recovered from a corked calf in time to face North Melbourne on Saturday night, but Magpies skipper Darcy Moore is expected to miss one more game with a shoulder injury.
 
Houston copped the cork in the 10-point win over Adelaide last Saturday at the MCG and struggled to train at the start of the week.
 
But after completing Thursday's session at the AIA Centre, Collingwood coach Craig McRae believes the two-time All-Australian half-back has done enough to prove his fitness.

"Dan had a bigger limp at the start of the week, so we're rapt with how he has gone about it," McRae said on Thursday morning.
 
"He will play, as long as he doesn't pull up sore tomorrow. Credit to him, he has done a great job to get up this week."
 
Moore trained with the main group on Thursday but is set to miss a second game with the AC joint injury the 29-year-old sustained in the win over Fremantle in round nine.

"At this stage we'll rule him out," McRae said.
 
"He is another one that put himself right in the frame to play, but unfortunately there is a bit of lingering stuff there with his AC joint and he is not quite right to play.
 
"I'm really confident with the way he prepared this week he is really close (to returning next week)."
 
Lachie Schultz will also miss a second game due to the nasty concussion he suffered in Perth, but the small forward is on track to return against Hawthorn next Friday night.

Veteran midfielder Steele Sidebottom has been dealing with a back issue and will be managed against the Kangaroos after featuring in the first ten games of 2025.
 
Draftee Charlie West couldn't be doing much more to earn a debut, but the South Australian is expected to have to wait a bit longer for his first taste of league football.
 
The 19-year-old key forward has kicked 18 goals from his first six games in the VFL and is leading the state league for contested marks, but McRae indicated that it is tough to get a spot in Collingwood's forward line right now.
 
"We love what Charlie is doing. I'm going to say the same answer as last week; we're probably on the fence right now," he said.
 
"We are rapt with him, he is getting closer and closer every week, but we just have to weigh up a lot of things. This is not as simple as Charlie West in, someone else out.

"The opposition play a high stoppage game, so we have to weigh that up and the moving parts. It's nothing that Charlie is doing, to be honest, it's more what the team needs this week."
 
Head of development Josh Fraser will step up to coach the forwards in the absence of Scott Selwood, following the tragic passing of his brother Adam last weekend.
 
Collingwood will give Selwood as much support and time as he needs during this incredibly difficult time.
 
The Magpies have won the past five encounters with the Kangaroos and seven of the past eight, last year recovering from 54 points down early in the third quarter to win by the narrowest of margins at Marvel Stadium.