BARRING a late mishap, talented Geelong forward Daniel Menzel looks set to make his long awaited return to senior football against Collingwood on Friday night at the MCG.

However, his coach Chris Scott is still not yet prepared to guarantee the 23-year-old will be in the team.

"We're not in a position this early in our preparation to have certainty around our selections, but given his last fortnight in particular he is well and truly in the frame," Scott said.

Menzel did not play at any level on the weekend after six solid weeks of VFL raising expectations he will be back in the seniors this Friday.

But Scott stopped just short of confirming that would be the case. 

"If everything goes well, he's likely, but we're just not in a position to guarantee it so I don't want to get people's hopes up," Scott said.

Josh Caddy is less likely to play after injuring his knee on Saturday night against St Kilda, while Mitch Duncan remains in doubt after missing the past two weeks with a calf injury.

Experienced duo James Kelly and Mathew Stokes will be available for selection after being rested on the weekend.

The Cats must defeat Collingwood on Friday night to stay in the finals race and hope Adelaide loses to West Coast on Sunday. They then host Adelaide at home in the last game, which depending on the weekend's results could become an early elimination final.

"For all the possibilities our focus is making sure we play really well on Friday night. That is all we can do and I'm confident we will do it. We'll certainly go in with the right attitude to the game. We'll be desperate and ready to play our best," Scott said.

Scott was heartened by Nathan Vardy's return on Saturday night.

"We thought it was a good performance," Scott said.

"That was a good sign, but it's only a small step for Nathan but a significant one given he had not played for 18 months, but in the context of his career, he's got a lot in front of him."

He said Mitch Clark was unlikely to play again this season although he was making progress on the track.

"The likely outcome there is his focus will go into a strong pre-season and being more robust for 2016 than he was for this season, and that is only logical given the preparation he had in the previous two seasons," Scott said.