COLLINGWOOD coach Craig McRae admits it could be a risk to take Scott Pendlebury into a knockout wildcard final given his injury concerns. 

Pendlebury was unable to finish the clash against Brisbane due to a knee bursa issue, but the club has concerns that there may be something hamstring related at play as well.

"My understanding is it was some precautionary action around tightness in the back of his knee. It might be hamstring related, but it's on the minor side. If there's something there a scan will show that," Collingwood coach Craig McRae told reporters post-match.

"Anyone that goes off and plays 20 per cent of game time in the last round, there's something there … we won't know until there’s a scan."

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While scans will ultimately reveal all, the Pies will have to weigh up the risk of whether they can take Pendlebury into a must-win clash against either the Western Bulldogs or Carlton.

Last year, Pendlebury suffered a calf injury early in the preliminary final, meaning the Pies had to play one man short for the majority of the tense clash. 

"That'll all be weighed up, he might be right to go, but then we have to decide if we want to take that risk," McRae said.

"That'll be the question our medical and high performance teams will have to ponder all week. You can't make decisions until we get a scan and then work from there.

"It might be as simple that the scan reveals something and he won't play. We'll know reasonably early if that's the case and do what we need to do."

Defender Dan Houston hurt his finger in the dying minutes of the clash but is expected to be right to go for the wildcard game, while the Pies are likely to be boosted by the returns of Pat Lipinski, Isaac Quaynor and Brayden Maynard.

"We were a bit conservative going into the game with Patty Lipinski, Quaynor and 'Bruzzy' (Maynard). Those three probably would've played if this was our last shot at things," McRae said.

"Everyone else wanted to play. It's a testament to our young group, there's an energy, an energy of growth and people want to be part of that. Nick Daicos and Darcy Cameron were adamant they wanted to lead, a lot of our other leaders were out, so we managed their game time. 

"Even that feels a bit of a compromise to what we want to do as a collective."

McRae reflected on a "challenging night", where his side struggled to assert themselves on the contest against a Brisbane outfit which had plenty to play for.

"We clearly played the best team in the competition, that stood out … they're very hard to play against," he said.

"It was always going to be a challenge at some point tonight. If the scoreboard didn't provide nourishment, it was like, 'Oh, how do we get through and not lose effort', but also not lose players.

"It's such a compromising position to be in as a coach. I don't think I recall being in a game like this. Even back in round 24 a couple of years ago when we weren't playing finals, we played Melbourne here and we just fought to the line.

"We showed glimpses of that tonight but it had a different feel about it, I think the crowd would say the same. It was a challenging night to be a part of."

Brisbane coach Chris Fagan was pleased with his side’s performance, the Lions now in the box seat to finish third on the ladder and face the undermanned Swans in a qualifying final. 

"Happy to win and get the double chance. When we were six and six halfway through the season, finishing where we have didn't quite seem possible," Fagan told reporters post-match.

"We've been able to win 10 games since then, and one shocking loss against Carlton, but it's been a great effort by everybody at the club to knuckle down and put ourselves in this position.

"You fight all year to try and give yourself the best chance to win a flag, I think you've got to finish in the top four to do that. The fact that we've done that is a real credit to the group."

Fagan stopped short of saying his side were peaking at the right time, but does believe the group has lifted in recent weeks with another finals series looming.

"I don't know, we don't deliberately peak our players, it's not something we do. But maybe because they've been together so long as a group, they're sensing finals and opportunity and that helps them raise the bar on performance," he said.

"It certainly feels like it's been that way the last three weeks, that's for sure. Hopefully that is the case, but there's nothing genius going on behind the scenes, I can assure you of that."