NORTH Melbourne's pre-season injury woes are on the improve with full back Scott Thompson making a surprise return for Saturday night's clash with the GWS Giants and Ben Cunnington ahead of schedule.

Thompson has been given a clean bill of health  by the club's medical director Steve Saunders, who is also optimistic about Cunnington's progress.

“Scotty worked so hard and so diligently in the early parts of his rehabilitation that we are now able to fast-track him to return to full training and games,” Saunders said.

Thompson averaged more than 17 possessions a game in 2010 and was fourth in contested marks (16) and hard-ball gets (59) at the club.

"Got out on the training track and it was feeling good in the past few sessions so they’ve put me up to play and it’s very exciting,” Thompson told kangaroos.com.au.

"[The knee soreness] is completely gone … I was a bit sore after training but not through the knee at all so the knee’s really good and I’m just excited to get out there against GWS."

Thompson is certain to make life difficult for the young Giants, as is the return Michael Firrito, who has recovered from a minor hamstring setback.

Meanwhile, a delighted Cunnington trained on Wednesday at Aegis Park.

"I got the message... to get ready for main skills so was pretty excited last night.

"It felt unreal to be back amongst the boys and actually chasing the pill around instead of just running in a straight line."

Saunders said: “We’ve taken a long-term view with Ben’s rehabilitation given his training age and the nature of the injury.

"He had some niggling knee pain on the outside of his knee which needed a combination of rest and rehabilitation. His running fitness is good, we just want to do some more work on his match-fitness and touch so that he is ready for round one."