Collingwood vice-captain Brayden Maynard has been ruled out for a third game and won't face St Kilda, but Pat Lipinski has been cleared to return at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.
Maynard has been dealing with a plantar fascia issue this year and hasn't played since being substituted out of the win over North Melbourne in round 11.
The 28-year-old signed a four-year contract extension during the bye, turning his back on free agency to commit to the Magpies until the end of 2029.
Lipinski missed the King's Birthday win over Melbourne after sustaining a concussion in an incident involving Hawthorn ruck Lloyd Meek in round 12.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae, who earns AFL life membership on Saturday, said Maynard needs another week of full training and is expected to be available to face West Coast next weekend.
"Patty will play and 'Bruzzy' won't," McRae told reporters
"Bruzzy is a couple of training sessions short of being ready to be at his best, so we made a decision on that. We are confident [he'll be available next week]. One on Friday, one on Saturday and then ideally set himself for next week."
Jordan De Goey remains sidelined with an Achilles issue but has started building his running loads over the past week.
The 29-year-old hasn't played since the loss to Geelong in round eight and has only managed five appearances in 2025 after 13 games last year due to groin, hip and hamstring problems.
De Goey is still at least a few weeks away with the club planning to bring the star midfielder-forward back through the VFL and build his loads after a challenging period since the 2023 premiership.
Collingwood expects St Kilda tagger Marcus Windhager to be handed the job on Nick Daicos at Marvel Stadium, after recent roles on Marcus Bontempelli and Kysaiah Pickett.
McRae said the Magpies needed to do more to help Daicos after close attention from Ed Langdon on King's Birthday, but questioned the flow-on impact of using a tag after the Saints lost to the Western Bulldogs by 12 goals last Thursday night.
"Windhager tagged [Marcus] Bontempelli and they lose by 73 points, what value do you put on that?" he said.
"We win a game, a really hard-fought game, I thought Melbourne were brilliant and I watched the game back and we had so many things we can improve on.
"Nick himself is a challenge every week because you want him to be the best he can possible be and the opposition want him to be the opposite of that. We've got to get the balance right.
"It is pleasing to think we are winning games (when) Nick isn't having an influence; I think that says a lot about our system. We are constantly thinking about how we can support Nick."
Collingwood returned from the bye a game clear on top of the ladder and two games inside the top four, with a match in hand on the four clubs behind them.
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