Guy McKenna is planning for a stronger Collingwood outfit this weekend, with his coaching counterpart Nathan Buckley signalling veterans Quinten Lynch and Alan Didak are set to return. 

The key Magpies will still have to undergo a series of fitness tests later this week, but the experienced campaigners are believed to very much in the mix for a senior recall after missing a combined five weeks of senior football. 

But Buckley will still need to fill the void left by Clinton Young, the ex-Hawk injuring his hamstring in the dying stages of the side’s blockbuster against Adelaide last week.

"He's an experienced player and he knows his body pretty well, and he doesn't like what it feels like," Buckley said.

"We haven't got any confirmation, but clearly he was quite disappointed at the end of the match."

Unfortunately for Tom Nicholls, who declared on Tuesday that he wanted to play on the competition’s best ruckman, he will miss the opportunity to bash and crash against Darren Jolly with the dual-premiership player still 3-4 weeks away from returning with a knee injury.