POWERFUL small forward Dean Kent says he’s making good progress from a recent back injury.

Kent, who has played all but one match this season, after missing much of last year with a hamstring injury, said his back had settled after battling some pain in recent times.

“I was pretty sore for about a month in my thoracic,” he told Melbourne TV. 

“I spoke to the fitness staff and the doctors and it just wasn’t quite right with the ground balls, so we had a scan on that and it was actually from getting crunched in the Gold Coast [match in round seven].

“I tweaked it a little bit and the doctors thought it was a good opportunity to have a week off and settle the back down.”

Kent said having only missed Melbourne’s round eight loss to the Western Bulldogs at the MCG had given him plenty of confidence.

“I’ve only miss one game which is a good result – doing a full pre-season helps,” he said.

“I missed last week with a crook back and I had injections in my thoracic, so that settled down pretty quick, which was a good result.

“I didn’t quite know what to expect or how many weeks I was going to miss but it’s settled pretty well. I’m feeling fresh again and feeling light and quick again, which is always a positive.

Kent said playing in a versatile forward set-up had added a new dimension to the team.

“We’ve got [James] Harmes, [Ben] Kennedy and Jeffy [Garlett] – Clarry (Clayton Oliver) when he’s down forward and a few resting mids – so we’re really focusing on defensive work,” he said.

“We want to play the game in our forward half and we have to drive that, so we’re working with Hoges (Jesse Hogan) , Wattsy (Jack Watts), Pedo (Cameron Pedersen) and Dawsey (Chris Dawes), when he comes back.

“I reckon we’re getting a really good chemistry amongst the six [players] that are down there, so we know our strengths and weaknesses and we’re not afraid to share the ball and share the goals. It’s not about the individual – it’s about the whole group so that’s a massive tick this year.”