KEY RECRUIT Chris Dawes could be a chance to return via the VFL this weekend, after missing most of the NAB Cup and the opening three rounds of the season with a hamstring injury.

Dawes played in Melbourne’s NAB Cup opener against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on February 22, but has not played since.

Elite performance manager Dave Misson said the 2010 Collingwood premiership player was in the mix to play for Casey against Williamstown at Casey Fields on Saturday night.

“Essentially, Dawesy has finished all of his rehab,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“He’ll train this week with the main group. Now really, what it’s about, is do we want him to do two weeks of training before he plays a game or we’re happy for him to play a game or we’re happy for him to play restricted minutes in the VFL this week.

“What we want to do is get him through today (Tuesday) and Thursday and then we’ll make an assessment from there.” 

Misson said fellow key forward Mitch Clark, who is unlikely to play against the Brisbane Lions this Sunday at the Gabba, was set to have further scans on Tuesday.

“Mitch didn’t finish the game on Sunday. He had some scans yesterday (Monday), which told us that his Lisfranc repair was still intact, which is really good news,” he said.

“There are a couple of little things that are going on with his foot – some loading issues and we’re getting some further investigations done on them today (Tuesday).

“He probably won’t play this weekend, but we just want to get as much information as we can over the next couple of days and really determine what this issue is at the moment, but more importantly, how the next few weeks look for him.

“We’re really buoyed by the fact that his Lisfranc repair looked pretty good.”

Defenders Joel Macdonald, Lynden Dunn and Tom Gillies were also set to resume for Casey this weekend.

“They’ve all come through their respective rehabs and they’ll definitely play in the VFL this week,” Misson said.