INJURIES will be no excuse when budding rivals North Melbourne and Melbourne clash this Saturday, Kangaroos coach Brad Scott says.

In the wake of the Demons' 96-point thumping of Adelaide last Sunday, Jack Grimes (navicular stress fracture in his foot) and ruckman Mark Jamar (posterior cruciate ligament strain) joined an injury list that already included Tom Scully.

And Jack Trengove will also be unavailable to take on the Kangaroos if his appeal on Thursday against a three-match suspension for rough conduct is unsuccessful.

However, Scott said at Aegis Park on Wednesday injury would deprive the Kangaroos of just as many key players at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

"(Grimes, Jamar, Scully and Trengove) are all very good players and important to their structure," Scott said.

"But Hamish McIntosh, Ryan Bastinac, Levi Greenwood and Matt Campbell have been extremely important parts of our structure as well and we haven't had them for one game this year.

"We haven't used injuries as an excuse and I know Melbourne certainly won't be either." 

Scott said the close parallels between North's and Melbourne's young and inexperienced lists had given their rivalry an added edge in recent times.

"This is a good chance for the fans of both clubs to get a really good gauge of where their current list sits against a team that's pretty similar in terms of age and experience," he said.

But Scott said the fact North won both of the sides' two encounters last year was irrelevant, with his focus more on the "terrific form" the Demons showed in their 96-point drubbing of Adelaide last Sunday.

Scott said key forward Lachie Hansen should return after recovering from the back injury he suffered crashing into the fence at Etihad Stadium against Port Adelaide in round six, while fellow forward Aaron Edwards would be strongly considered after his 10-goal haul with North Ballarat in the VFL last weekend.

Greenwood, who had 21 possessions in 70 per cent game time for Werribee in his return from an ankle injury, was also a chance to play his first AFL match for the season, but Scott said he would need to prove he was back to full fitness at training.

Scott said he was frustrated by his team's 1-5 start to the season but not by his players' endeavour.

"I've never questioned their effort," he said.

"I would be frustrated if I was sitting here saying, 'They're not working hard enough, they're not trying hard enough'.

"I'm confident in that. We're just not executing our game plan well enough."

Scott said the only remedy was to keep working on their skills and the defensive parts of their game that "need tidying up" on the training track.

Lindsay Thomas, who has kicked 8.19 this year, was working particularly hard on his goalkicking, he said.