INJURED Cats Sam Menegola, Sam Simpson, Cooper Stephens and Esava Ratugolea have all taken positive strides in their injury recoveries as Geelong readies itself for a clash with the Demons.

Menegola appears in the frame to return this week after two rounds on the sidelines with a shoulder injury.

The news isn't as positive for Shaun Higgins and Francis Evans, with both Cats facing likely surgery after going down against the Hawks. 

Boom recruit Jeremy Cameron will spend at least another match on the sidelines. 

Sam Menegola (Shoulder)

"Menegola is two weeks following his grade two AC joint injury, he was tested last week and went very close to playing against Hawthorn," GM of Football Simon Lloyd says.

"We’re planning on Sam being available this week."

Sam Simpson (Quad)

"Sam Simpson on Sunday’s session just gone, completed high volumes of running and conditioning," Lloyd says.

"We could see a lot on the outer wing where he was reaching high maximum speed and we’re really happy with his progress.

"He’s tracking really well."

Esava Ratugolea (Leg)

"This week he’s into full training load and trained with our VFL program on Tuesday night," Lloyd says.

"He completed high kilometers and competed in ruck-work so he’s jumping and landing and we’re considering playing him for a portion of this week’s VFL practice match but we’ll make that decision later this week."

Cooper Stephens (Ankle)

"Coming off the ankle ligament injury, Cooper’s highly professional and we’ve had really positive progress with Cooper," Lloyd says.

"He’s currently completing Alter-G running and his body has responded well.

"He’ll progress to running on grass this weekend. That’ll move pretty quickly.

"He’s got a great fitness base and we expect Cooper to move progressively through the stages over the coming weeks."

Jeremy Cameron (Hamstring)

"We've got the reins well and truly on him. It's uncertain, at least in my mind, when we're going to unshackle him," coach Chris Scott revealed in this week's press conference.

"You can get some bad luck, and you’ve got to do everything you can to mitigate that bad luck, that's the summary of where we're at with Jeremy. 

“He had a desperately unlucky mechanism to give that hamstring a minor tweak again, to the point where you think it’s almost impossible for it to happen in a game.”

Shaun Higgins (Thumb/Hamstring)

"Higgins has a fracture of his thumb that requires surgery," Scott said.

"That’s probably the issue more than his hamstring in terms of the recovery period. Medium term for him."

Francis Evans (Ankle)

"It’s medium to possibly a little bit longer for Francis depending on whether he needs surgery on that ankle which is a possibility at the moment," Scott says.