MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin expects Steven May to return to take on the Crows, strengthening the Demons’ back line for its date with Tex Walker and his Adelaide forwards.
A return against the Crows would mean May misses just one game after fracturing his ribs against Hawthorn just over a week ago.
Kade Chandler is under an injury cloud for the encounter, while Clayton Oliver got through Saturday’s Power clash unscathed while carrying a finger issue.
These are the Fujifilm Coach Media Conference Focuses for Round 4.
Feeling in the Group
“There's a great connection amongst our playing group,” Simon Goodwin said.
“I think you saw on the weekend there was a lot of grittiness and resilience about the way we played.
“It’s definitely fuelled a lot of belief in our playing group.
“When the draw came out, we didn't look at this as a tough patch, we looked at this part of our draw as an opportunity.”
Steven May the Ultimate Competitor
“He's going really well. We’ll test him out fully on Wednesday,” Goodwin said.
“We're certainly very confident and expect him to be available, but we won't take a risk.
“Nothing surprises me with Steven. That's the type of player he is. He's a high competitor.
“Right from the moment it happened, he was keen to get himself going as quickly as possible.
“He's feeling healthy, he's feeling free in his movement but he won't know right until Wednesday whether he's right to play.”
Clarry and the glove
“He's had a little bit of a finger issue the last couple of weeks,” Goodwin said.
“It was a precautionary scan, he's actually pulled up through the game really well.
“There's no doubt that he'll play on Thursday night, which is great for us, but it's something we'll continue to monitor.”
Chandler’s Knee
“He's pulled up well, he obviously had a little bit of a medial knee last week and again came off during the game,” Goodwin said.
“He's someone we will assess on Wednesday.
“It's so early in the week on a short turnaround to get a handle on everyone, but we've got some decisions to make around obviously May and Chandler.”
Making goalkicking improvements
“We give it a lot of time in our program and we stick to it. we think we're in the right direction with it, but it's never a finished product,” Goodwin said.
“It's one where you just got to continue the process and continue the program that you've got and Mark Williams on that.
“We put a lot of time into it over a long period of time now and hopefully what we'll start to see some rewards as you go.
“Goalkicking is one of those things that you're not going to get it right every time you play, but you want to start steering it in your favour.”
Windsor Excitement
“He's brilliant. We just keep giving him more and more responsibility in the way he goes about his business,” Goodwin said.
“What I love that Caleb the most is his work defensively.
“His ability to chase down tackle, get back support our D50 is outstanding for an 18-year-old.”
