CHRISTIAN Petracca is "jumping out of his skin" to play but the former No.2 draft pick will have to wait, with Melbourne coach Paul Roos ruling out a debut against Collingwood on Sunday.
 
Taken at pick No.2 in the 2014 NAB AFL Draft, Petracca was sidelined for his entire first season after rupturing the ACL in his left knee in February last year.
 
After a lengthy rehabilitation, Petracca has been back playing competitive football for the past two weeks, dominating for VFL club Casey last weekend.
 
The 20-year-old midfielder gathered 28 disposals and kicked two goals in 85 minutes against Frankston, sparking suggestions he could be ready for an AFL debut.
 
Despite Petracca's impressive VFL performance, Roos said the youngster wasn't yet ready for senior selection.
 
"We think Christian is talented and coming back well from a knee reconstruction really well," Roos said on Thursday.
 
"But the reality is the jump up from VFL to AFL is fairly significant, so we'll continue to monitor him."
 
Melbourne skipper Nathan Jones said the 20-year-old was still "a couple of weeks away", but admitted the young midfielder was looking forward to eventually playing his first game for the Demons.
 
"He's one of the most excitable characters. You almost have to pull the reins on him because he's jumping out of his skin," Jones said.
 
"I love his confidence and I love his enthusiasm but I think he's aware he has to continue to work on getting his body 100 per cent and get that conditioning in.
 
"He really believes in himself and backs himself. I'm going to be pretty excited when he gets his chance. He's going to do some impressive things for us.
 
"We need to make sure we prepare him as best we can to live up to some of the hype so when he gets out there he can play his best footy."
 
Midfielder Angus Brayshaw could return to the senior side against the Pies this week with Bernie Vince suspended.
 
Goal sneak Jeff Garlett will need to get through training on Friday before he is cleared to play.
 
The small forward injured his ankle last week at training and consequently missed the loss to North Melbourne last Sunday.