CHASING its first win of a season that is starting to slip away, Melbourne faces some obvious selection challenges for Thursday night's clash against Sydney at the SCG. 

The Demons could be without key forward Tom McDonald for the game after he failed to train with the main group on Monday due to an ankle injury. 

McDonald tweaked his left ankle in Friday night's loss to Essendon and, although he played out the game, he has pulled up sore which puts him in doubt off a six-day break. He is considered a 50/50 proposition to play against Sydney at this stage of the week, although Melbourne hopes he will run on Tuesday.

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With the VFL team playing on Sunday, the Demons were forced manage several players' workloads against the Box Hill Hawks to compensate for the tight four-day turnaround ahead of the clash against the Swans.

One of those decisions was to withdraw ruckman Braydon Preuss before the Casey-Box Hill game at Box Hill City Oval, putting the former North big man in contention to play his first game in Melbourne colours on Thursday night. 

Preuss completed a taxing conditioning session at Gosch's Paddock on Sunday morning instead of playing in the VFL game, and would add a different option to Melbourne's ruck/forward mix alongside Max Gawn.

In a pre-planned move, defender Marty Hore and midfielder Billy Stretch sat out the opening term of Casey's game against Box Hill before playing the final three quarters. 

Despite a heavy 62-point loss to the Hawks, Stretch gathered 20 disposals and laid five tackles to be among Casey's best players and appears a strong contender to play against the Swans. 

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Hore, a carryover emergency for the round two match against Geelong, had 15 touches and could also earn a recall after a standout pre-season. 

Fellow defender Harry Petty sat out the final quarter of the game and will be another considered at the selection table, especially with Sam Frost and Oscar McDonald struggling in their defensive posts to begin the season. 

Other players around the selection mark, including Declan Keilty and Jeff Garlett, who is making his return from a pre-season shoulder injury, played full game time against the Hawks, make it tough for them play off such a short break. 

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In better news, star defender Jake Lever joined in his first training session with the main group since suffering a serious knee injury in June last year. 

Lever, who continues his recovery from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, will look to get at least a month's worth of quality training under his belt before pushing to return to the field.

"It's tracking along really well, it's just about doing the work now," Lever said on Monday.

"For me it's getting the confidence in my body again. It's now about doing my six weeks of pre-season and hopefully getting out on the field again soon."

Veteran Jordan Lewis is still another week away from being available for selection after a hamstring injury suffered before round one. 

The 32-year-old ran some laps with Mitch Hannan and Aaron vandenBerg, before picking up the intensity with more purposeful strides at 80-90 per cent later in the session.

Small forward Charlie Spargo trained with the main group after missing Sunday's VFL game with a broken jaw, with the Demons hopeful he may be ready to play at the lower level on Saturday.

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