Exciting forward Lindsay Thomas has overcome the minor foot injury that sidelined him for the past fortnight, North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says.
The 27-year-old is in line to return for Sunday's elimination final against Richmond after being named in the extended squad, which will be trimmed to 22 players on Friday evening.
Scott said Thomas had trained strongly this week after missing the Roos' last two matches with a foot complaint.
"He had a minor ailment there and he's over that now, so he comes back in ready to play," Scott told NMFC.com.au on Thursday.
"He trained really well so he picked himself."
Fellow livewire Kayne Turner will miss the do-or-die final despite showing good signs of improvement from the concussion he suffered in the final quarter of last Friday night's game against Richmond.
Although Scott said Turner had been "medically cleared" to play, the club had opted against rushing the 19-year-old back onto the field this weekend.
"There's some risk there and it's not a risk that I'm prepared to take," Scott said.
"He would've played if he was right to go, but it's just too big a risk."
North will welcome back its nine experienced players – Todd Goldstein, Shaun Higgins, Nick Dal Santo, Jarrad Waite, Andrew Swallow, Scott Thompson, Michael Firrito, Ben Cunnington and Sam Wright – that were rested from the final-round match against the Tigers.
Scott said the players were feeling re-energised and ready for the game.
"They all trained well; they all certainly feel better now than they did this time last week," he said.
"This time of year, there are a lot of players carrying minor niggles and our guys trained like they were fresh and raring to go."
Scott said omitted duo Majak Daw and Joel Tippett, who were among North's better-performed players last week, left the match committee with a number of selection dilemmas.
"They're tough decisions because they both performed," he said.
"They're only being edged out by more experienced players coming back in, that's the nature of football at times.
"But that was always our intention and also to have a really full squad available in good form, and we've basically got that."
North Melbourne will hold an open training session this Saturday (September 12, 2015) at Arden Street from 11.15am-12.00pm.
Scott: Thomas ready to go
"He had a minor ailment there and he's over that now, so he comes back in ready to play."