KEY FORWARD Chris Dawes is set to make his debut for Melbourne in next Sunday’s clash against the Gold Coast Suns.

Coach Mark Neeld said Dawes would “absolutely be in calculations” to make his AFL comeback in round seven, after the big name recruit booted four goals for Casey in the VFL on Saturday. It was Dawes’ second match back after a hamstring injury sidelined him for seven weeks.

“I went down and watched Casey play Port Melbourne yesterday. Port got them in the end, but Dawesy kicked four,” Neeld said post-match, after his side went down to Carlton by 61 points at the MCG on Sunday.

“It’d be a fairly significant, brave assistant coach to convince me that Dawesy’s not going to play next week, I would’ve thought.

“We’ll see how we go and I’ll see how aggressive I can be in match committee. I reckon he’ll play.”

Summing up Melbourne’s performance against Carlton, Neeld was pleased with his young side’s effort, although he conceded it lacked experience and composure in the wash-up.

“When you’re a developing side and you’re looking at the scoreboard … but the weight of numbers in the end got the opposition over the line,” he said.