Ben Ainsworth, a late withdrawal from the club’s 25-man squad to take on Hawthorn is a chance to return this weekend.
General Manager – Football, Marcus Ashcroft said Ainsworth will have his corked quad closely monitored by Suns’ medical staff throughout the week.
“He was a late withdrawal from the game on Sunday afternoon… as it is only Tuesday, he has some time to get through this week," Ashcroft said.
“We will continue to monitor him and make an assessment later in the week.”
Also nearing a comeback is ruckman Tom Nicholls who is edging closer to full fitness following a lingering shoulder complaint.
“For Tom he has had this lingering shoulder issue which has restricted him for a couple of weeks now, but he has rehabbed it pretty well over the weekend and is making real positive progress and we are expecting him to be close to available this weekend.”
Meanwhile, Pearce Hanley has returned to the Gold Coast after the passing of his brother Tommy.
The SUNS midfielder was granted compassionate leave to travel to Ireland.
Hanley returned to the club on Wednesday joining his teammates on the training track.
Ashcroft, updated goldcoastfc.com.au on Hanley’s availability.
“It has been a tough month for Pearce, he went back home obviously for a couple of weeks and returned to Australia yesterday,” Ashcroft confirmed.
“He started training on Wednesday, and we’ll assess him throughout the week to make sure we do the right thing by him, to ensure he is physically ready to play.
“But he is an outside chance to play some form of footy this weekend.”
