GEELONG star Jeremy Cameron will miss the Cats' clash with his former club GWS as the key forward recovers from his latest hamstring injury.

The 28-year-old has sat out the past four games after hurting himself in Geelong's round 16 win over Essendon.

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With this being his third hamstring injury since arriving from the Giants during the off-season, Geelong has opted to carefully manage their spearhead leading into finals.

The premiership favourites will likely go into Friday night's round 21 clash at GMHBA Stadium with an unchanged line-up to the one that took care of North Melbourne in Hobart last Saturday.

"(Cameron) hasn't knocked on my door because he knows he's not playing and he's known for some time," Geelong coach Chris Scott said.

"There's never been any suggestion from our end that he would play this week.

"Probably the only area where there's been some room for confusion is from the people that have watched him on the track because he's been performing really well.

"I don't think anyone needs me to elaborate too much on why we're going to hold him back for a little bit longer."

Cameron has starred with 28 goals in his 10 games during his first season at Kardinia Park but the Cats have barely missed him as they have risen to second on the ladder in his absence.

Veteran forward Tom Hawkins has been at his dominant best, while ruck-forward Esava Ratugolea enjoyed a breakout four-goal performance in the Cats' grand final rematch smashing of Richmond.

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Ratugolea running rings around Tigers

Esava Ratugolea continues to grow in confidence with these two superb goals in the last

Published on Jul 25, 2021

Scott is optimistic Cameron will return for next week's clash with St Kilda.

The Cats are in an excellent position as they chase their first premiership since 2011, with all three games before finals to be held at their home fortress.

They are all but assured of a double chance and will lock in a top-two finish if they close out the home-and-away season with three wins.