Collingwood’s Head of High Performance Jarrod Wade has provided an injury update ahead of Thursday night’s First Qualifying Final against Melbourne at the MCG.

Captain Darcy Moore (hamstring) is set to return to the side after recovering from the hamstring injury he suffered against Geelong in Round 22.

Wade said that Moore’s recovery has been strong, and the defender is in great shape ahead of Thursday night’s clash.

“He’s put in a really big block over the past three weeks, he was full training last week as well and will continue to be in full training in the lead into the game.

“He’s made himself available and cleared the criteria for that return from his hamstring injury,” said Wade.

Defender Nathan Murphy (glute/back) will also be available for Thursday’s clash after recovering from a glute and back complaint experienced against Brisbane in Round 23.

“We tried to get him up for the last game, but he was a late out. He was full training last week and is completing full training this week in the lead into the game, so he should be available as well,” said Wade.

Midfielder Nick Daicos has started running in his recovery from his knee injury sustained in Round 21 and is set to be available for the second week of Finals.

“He’s progressing really well, really happy with the progress so far. He’s completed a couple of runs and pulled up really well from both of those. The timing is just going to be a little bit short for the first final (Qualifying Final), so we will rule him out of that one.

“We want to make sure we give him enough time to get the loads in his legs and now that he is able to run, make sure we build that load tolerance back up in there and make sure that the joint is responding each time to that load tolerance.

“He’s unavailable this week and we’re really confident that if required he’ll be able to play week two of the Finals Series.”

Young half back Jakob Ryan (concussion) will be assessed ahead of Thursday night after a concussion during his debut in Round 23. Ryan entered the concussion protocols and if he clears relevant tests he will be available for selection.

“He’s making the right steps through that protocol, and he’s just got to clear one more thing before the return to full training and to be available to play,” said Wade.

Josh Carmichael (concussion) is also recovering from a head knock suffered in last weekend’s VFL Wildcard Round. If his recovery progresses as planned, Carmichael will be able to return to contact training next weekend.

“He’s a couple of stages behind Ryan, but again he’s working through that protocol, day by day and session by session and he should be able to do some non-contact training with the team and hopefully be able to get into some contact training with the team over the (next) weekend and be available for the following week.”

Reef Mcinnes (shoulder) missed Saturday’s VFL Elimination Final through an sternoclavicular shoulder joint injury.

“He’s really sore at the moment, he’s still unable to run and do weight training. He’s unlikely to become available this week and still probably looking like a two/three-week injury for Reef, and we just have to see how that progresses over the next couple of weeks.”

During Saturday’s VFL Elimination Final, Ash Johnson (arm) and Will Kelly (ankle) both suffered injuries.

“Ash Johnson had a collision to his arm, we’re just querying whether that’s a fracture or not. He’s gone off and got some scans and we’re working with specialists to determine the outcome of that.

“He’ll be unavailable for the first final and he’ll be an assess and a wait and see how it goes for week two or three for the Finals Series.”

“Will Kelly had another injury to that ankle injury that he had about four weeks ago that he’s been working through to get back to play.

“Unfortunately, that’s a pretty significant one and that’s going to rule him out of the Finals Series we would think,” said Wade.

Charlie Dean made his return to football after a long layoff due to a foot injury. The young defender played in Saturday’s VFL Elimination Final on Saturday. Due to being placed on the long term injury list earlier in the year, Dean will be unable to be selected in the AFL Finals Series.

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