Fremantle defender Brennan Cox is on track to face Adelaide in next week's unofficial practice match despite having his summer interrupted by a skateboarding mishap.
Cox tore skin off his palm and knee in the accident, with the injury becoming more serious when his knee became infected.
The 24-year-old was held out of last week's intra-club match, and won't be available for this Friday's hit-out either.
But coach Justin Longmuir is confident Cox will be fit to tackle the Crows in Perth on Friday week.
"We think the Adelaide game he'll play," Longmuir said on Tuesday.
"The infection looks like it's cleared up. It looks like he's gotten on top of the swelling.
"Now it's just about making sure we don't put him out there too early and put him at risk of injuring some other part of his body."
Reading between the lines, it seems Longmuir wasn't overly impressed by the way Cox got injured.
"He had a skateboarding incident which is not ideal. But it wasn't serious," Longmuir said.
"The scab got infected, and left him in the situation he's in. It's something we could have stopped."
Longmuir revealed rising star Nathan O'Driscoll is in the final stages of recovering from his latest foot injury.
O'Driscoll missed around three months of action last season due to a hot spot in his foot, but his prognosis is much better this time around after catching the ailment early.
"It's different to the one he had last year, and it looks like touch wood we've got it really early through some good reporting and awareness," Longmuir said.
"It might keep him out another week."
Meanwhile, Longmuir said it will be at least two more weeks before Fremantle hold their leadership vote to decide on who should replace Nat Fyfe as captain.
Fyfe stepped down as skipper last week following six years in the role, with Alex Pearce, Andrew Brayshaw, and Caleb Serong the three leading candidates to replace him.
At 27 years of age, last season's caretaker captain Pearce is viewed as being in the box seat.
But Longmuir said on Tuesday that youth will be no barrier to the captaincy role, boosting the chances of both Brayshaw (23) and Serong (22).
"Age doesn't play any part for me," Longmuir said.
"It's more the leadership they show in all different situations."
Longmuir described himself as a "traditionalist" in wanting a sole captain, but he's open to a co-captaincy arrangement if that's what the group desires.
Each player will vote on who they want, with the coaches also having a vote in the process.
Longmuir said Serong's leadership had "gone to another level" during the off-season.
Pearce and Brayshaw are also highly respected within the club, giving Fremantle a wealth of options to choose from.
