Time is of the essence and North Melbourne can’t afford to put a foot wrong as it nurses several key players back to full fitness according to Brad Scott.

“The cricket World Cup (delaying the start of the season until April) couldn’t come at a better time, that has been a good thing for us,” Scott told the Herald Sun’s Jay Clark.

“We still think we have got enough time, but what it does is limit the margin for errors, and we are in a really important phase.

“I’m really working closely with our sports science and medical and physio team to make sure we get it all spot on.

“We can’t take a ‘she’ll be right on the night’ approach, because we have got to get everything right every day from this point on.”

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Scott said about "one third" of the senior team required post-season surgery or were put on modified programs including Drew Petrie (ankle), Jack Ziebell (shoulder), Lachie Hansen (hips), Scott Thompson (knee), Aaron Black (shoulder), Ben Brown (knee), Aaron Mullett (shoulder), Majak Daw (foot), Kieran Harper (ankle), Robbie Tarrant (leg), Daniel Wells (foot), Taylor Garner (hips), Lindsay Thomas (foot), Todd Goldstein (calf), Nathan Grima (foot) and Leigh Adams (knee).

With the club ramping up its training and transitioning into match practice three weeks out from the first NAB Challenge match against Adelaide in Port Lincoln, Scott said getting players back into the rotation is vital.

“…it’s going to be a question of preparation more than availability,” he said.

Two players raring to go are new recruits Shaun Higgins and Jarrad Waite. Despite going after the pair as free agents, Scott denies the club has taken a short term approach with its list management.

“From the 2007 draft to the 2014 draft, you look at our first three picks and we haven’t traded any of them,” Scott said.

“We have essentially brought in 24 players from those drafts and 20 of them are still on our list, and of those four that have moved on, one is Levi Greenwood.

“If we, as we are accused of doing, are planning for 2015 and that’s it, we would have kept Levi Greenwood (and matched Collingwood’s lucrative offer)

“But that’s not fair to the football club, not fair to the playing list and not fair to the next custodians of the club.”