FRESH off a four-day break, Melbourne is preparing for a trip down the highway.

The Demons will face Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Thursday, with the group looking to come back fit and firing off their bye round.

Senior coach Simon Goodwin joined media on Monday and previewed the clash, discussed potential selection options and the team's focus for the back half of the season. 

Oliver and Petty availability

“[Clayton] is progressing well,” Goodwin said.

“Both [Clayton] and Harrison Petty have got a couple of important sessions to go.

“We need to make sure they train well today and again on Wednesday.

“So, we’re hopeful but we’re certainly not declaring them [to be playing] at this point.”

Fresh after bye-break

“It’s given us some time to refresh,” Goodwin said.

“We had four days away, we’ve got back to work over the weekend, and we’ve got a pretty important couple of sessions coming up now.

“We’ve had a chance to not only refresh mentally but then get back to work really quickly and get back into the rhythm of the season.

“That’s really important for teams, off the bye, how they respond and how they get back to work.”

Momentum off King’s Birthday win

“We want to be a side that continues to build throughout the season,” Goodwin said.

“The last game against Collingwood was just affirmation and reinforcement around some of the things we’re doing incredibly well.

“That gives us great belief internally about where we’re going and what’s possible, but we’ve still got plenty of work to do.”

Prepping for the Cattery

“They play the ground incredibly well,” Goodwin said.

“We know what we’re up against, we’re going to train with the dimensions of the Geelong ground today, we want to get used to what it's like to play down there.

“We want to make sure that we’re as best prepared as possible to play a really strong footy team that play that ground incredibly well.

“We’re going to leave no stone unturned in preparation for the game that we’re coming up against.”