KEY FORWARD Chris Dawes says he will know after Thursday’s training session, if he will be right to play against Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday.

Dawes, who missed Melbourne’s loss to Fremantle at the MCG in round five with a calf problem and reinjured it again during the loss to the Swans at the ‘G last Saturday night, said it was still an issue heading into round seven.    

“I pulled up a bit sore during the game, so I’ll make the call on this week later in the week, probably Thursday after training,” he told Dee TV.

“It’s the same calf that kept me out against Fremantle and it just got sore and a bit tight during the game [against Sydney].

“But the positive thing was that I was able to run out the game, so I’m taking confidence out of that and hoping that’ll hold up for the Hawks this week.”

Dawes said he reinjured his calf again when he was running at high intensity.

“There were a couple of times when I tried to sprint at top speed, which granted isn’t that quick, but at my top speed, it just tightened up a bit,” he said.

“After that point, I found I was having to run just that bit below my quickest, which was a frustrating way to play.”

But Dawes said he was doing everything he could to play this weekend.  

“I’m just following the physio’s instructions,” he said.

“It’s pretty basic and a lot of it is just giving it the best chance to recover and letting the body do its thing and I’ll test it out later in the week.

“I’m not going to rush it now for the sake of running earlier in the week. I’ve got time up my sleeve, so I’ll be using that.”