GEELONG will be boosted by the return of key forward Tom Hawkins for Friday night's clash against Carlton, while veterans James Kelly and Andrew Mackie are also chances to return.

Hawkins was a late withdrawal for the Cats' 43-point loss to the Sydney Swans on Saturday night with glute soreness.

However coach Chris Scott declared the star forward a certain starter for his side's duel against the Blues.

Kelly, who has missed the past two games after rupturing a testicle in the club's round five clash with Richmond, is also in the selection frame.

"(Kelly's) a chance. The likelihood is that we'll pick him in the squad, subject to our final session, which we haven't had yet," Scott said.

James Kelly in action during training on Tuesday

Scott said the Cats decided to take a conservative approach in withdrawing Mackie from the VFL game he was slated to play in against Foootscray on Saturday.

"That makes him more likely to play senior footy this weekend, but we haven't worked through that in detail yet," Scott said.

However, not everything is rosy on the injury front at Geelong with in-form midfielder Mitch Duncan to miss up to three months with a broken foot.

"It certainly hurts the team short-term, because he'd been, if not our best player, one of our best players," Scott said.

"It hurts what we're trying to do longer term as well because he's such an important part of that developing midfield that we have.

"It's disappointing for him on an individual level as well because he's establishing himself as one of the really good players of the competition.

"In the context of his career it's a setback, no question, but it's not an injury that we think is of risk of plaguing him throughout his career."

Veteran midfielder Steve Johnson escaped punishment from the Match Review Panel for his role in an incident involving Swans co-captain Jarrad McVeigh being hit in the groin.

Scott acknowledged there was a theme of off-the-ball contact between the two teams on Saturday night, but added the team would be searching for improved discipline.

"As a preference, Steve would be concentrating on footy rather than the opposition," Scott said.