Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says the make up of Monday's ANZAC Day team will only be confirmed after Saturday's training session.

One player who may need to prove his fitness is Travis Cloke, who injured his right elbow in last Sunday's 35-point loss to Melbourne.

Asked whether Cloke would play, Buckley declined to publicly confirm his status.

"We've got a squad of 28. We're in no position to make definitive statements around any selection given we've got blokes who are under injury clouds, and we need to get through training tomorrow," Buckley said on Friday afternoon.

The Pies are struggling at 1-3 and sit just one spot above Essendon on the ladder.

Collingwood's one win came against Richmond in round two, when Brodie Grundy kicked the match-winning goal in the final seconds.

While Cloke is struggling for form, Buckley mentioned a few others who need to lift.

"Darcy Moore, who's played (13) games, for the first time over the last couple of weeks has just shown a little bit of ball-watching," Buckley said.

"He's just not attacking the contest as much as we've taken for granted.

"Jordan De Goey is learning to run both ways as a midfielder.

"We haven't had great synergy with our backline.

"If you're looking at the form across our team, there's a lot of players that need to lift. 

Injuries have been an issue for the Magpies. Dane Swan faces an uphill battle to return this year after breaking his foot, Jamie Elliott will be out in the medium-term due to a back injury and Marley Williams is unavailable with a foot strain, among others.

"Tom Langdon was a bit sore (after playing the Demons)," Buckley said.

"So was Ben Reid coming out of the game last week.

"Ben Sinclair still needs to prove his fitness from a concussion perspective."

Reid hurt his knee against the Demons, and his defending and kicking skills are crucial to Collingwood.

The trio will face injury tests before playing the Bombers at the MCG on Monday.

Buckley said Essendon would be difficult to beat, but he had faith his players would respond to the challenge.

"They've got the second-most number of disposals per game in the comp, so they are relying on retaining possession.

"They're not afraid to flip it around, especially in the back half.

"I've got absolute confidence in our players to be able to deliver the type of football that we can.

"But when you get to a point, right here, right now, we need to turn those words into action."