Richmond coach Adem Yze has all but confirmed the return of midfielder Jacob Hopper for Sunday's clash with Carlton at the MCG, whilst clouding some doubt over superstar Dustin Martin.
Hopper has been sidelined since the ANZAC Day Eve clash with a hamstring injury, which was his first game back after a knee issue from Round 1.
Despite pushing for an early selection before the club's bye, Yze said that the former Giant is "ready" to go after being given some extra time to get his body right.
"Similar to 'Lynchy', he (Hopper) was in my office last week trying to get a game and he was probably ready, but based on the fact he hadn't had the volume (of training) that 'Lynchy' had had (he was held back)," Yze said on Thursday.
"He got an extra 15 days, so he will get through today and play."
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Following his 300th game and the surrounding speculation if he was to continue his career, Martin is pushing his case for Sunday, with the club cautious of the short turnarounds that are set for the coming weeks.
"He'll train today and we'll sit down with him later this afternoon and work out a plan. He is going to be one of those players that we start to prepare for eight-day breaks and six-day breaks," Yze said.
"If he plays this weekend, there is a high risk he won't play against Freo, so we'll sit down and try and map out a plan for a lot of those older players, and he is one of those. We'll finalise that today whether he plays or not this week. He will struggle to play both."
Mid-season recruit and key defender Jacob Blight is also in the frame to combat Carlton's key forwards Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow despite only joining the club late last month.
With Tom Lynch (hamstring) and Samson Ryan (ankle) sidelined along with unfortunate anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) victims Josh Gibcus, Tylar Young and Mykelti Lefau, Blight's name has shot into consideration, which could help free up Noah Balta in attack.
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"He has been in the frame for a couple of weeks, so we'll get through training today," Yze said.
"It is unfortunate that Samson Ryan is going to miss again this week, so we might have to get creative with our talls this week. We are struggling with talls at the moment.
"He is in good form, so if we pick him, we feel like he can have a really good impact at AFL level, which is really impressive for a young kid who walked into our footy club a few weeks ago."
