Collingwood is confident Ben Reid and Nathan Brown will be available for trial games, but the news isn't quite as good for dual All-Australian Alan Didak ahead of the round-one clash with Hawthorn on March 30.
After tearing a groin muscle on Monday, Didak is expected to be out for at least four weeks, although Collingwood football and coaching strategist Rodney Eade said Didak was remaining upbeat.
''Alan's really positive about it. He was limping around yesterday, but he was walking around quite well today,'' Eade said.
''We're fairly confident it will only be the four weeks. He might get in one or two games toward the end of the [pre-season] cup.
''It wasn't a huge tear.''
But Eade said Reid and Brown were both on track to figure in the side's trials.
Reid strained ligaments in his right shoulder when he fell on a beach while in Thailand in January.
Brown missed an entire season after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee then fracturing his right kneecap while on a mid-season training camp in Arizona.
''They're both tracking really well,'' Eade said yesterday.
''We're pretty confident Ben will probably play round two of the [pre-season] cup.
''Browny has just got a bit more work to do on his knee, but we're reasonably confident he might be able to get the last trial [game] or two in.''
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