COACH Paul Roos says at least two forced changes will be made for Melbourne’s clash against Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday.

With reigning best and fairest winner Bernie Vince already out – after striking Roo Jamie Macmillan during last Sunday’s five-point loss to North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena – Roos confirmed utility Aaron vandenBerg would also miss with an ankle injury.

“Bernie is going to miss a week, so we’ll have to replace him, and Vanders looks like he’ll miss with ankle, so we’ll have to replace him, so there are a couple of spots [to fill] without talking about form,” he said on Roos’ Views.

Roos said livewire forward Jeff Garlett was likely to return, after missing last round with an ankle injury. Second-year player Angus Brayshaw is also in contention to return, after playing for Casey in its 144-point win over Frankston last weekend.  

“I spoke to Jeff [on Wednesday] and he seemed pretty confident that he’d play. He feels a lot better than last week, so hopefully he’s OK, and clearly, he goes straight back in,” he said.

“We had some good performances in the seconds, which was really important. I think the way some of our players have embraced getting dropped, and then going back [playing for Casey] and responding [has been good].

“Angus did that really, really well on the weekend and played a very good game, so we’ll assess [him] more from a fitness point of view. I spoke to him today (Wednesday) and he felt he was a lot better placed, so we’ll assess that.”

Roos said key tall Cam Pedersen and youngster Alex Neal-Bullen were also in the mix for a call-up.

“Cam went back [to Casey last weekend], after having a really good NAB Challenge and probably tailing off a bit in round one and two. It’s great the response from him – it was terrific,” he said.

“Alex had a slower pre-season, by his own admission, but has played two really good games [for Casey] now … he’s certainly heading in the right direction – absolutely.”

Roos said yet-to-debut speedster Jayden Hunt was also getting closer to playing his first AFL match.

“Jayden Hunt played another good game again, which was really good. [It was good to] give him a bit of a taste [in the NAB Challenge] and then see how he responded, but he’s not far off,” he said.

“He’s actually playing some good footy, beating his man and playing off half-back. We know he’s got lightning speed, but probably his ball use … is not quite as sharp as it could be. But he’s getting the ball, defending really well and he’s running like we’ve asked him to run, so he’s not far away.

“Oscar McDonald went back [to Casey last weekend] and is steadily increasing his form, so there is a lot to like, with a 100-plus-point win in the Casey team. They started off really, really well, which was great for us.”