Fogarty in mix to face Dons

GEELONG small forward Lachie Fogarty will be a likely inclusion for Saturday’s clash with Essendon, however Scott Selwood with require further assessment after his late withdrawal with a back complaint.

“He just jarred his back at training, there was no contact or anything,” coach Chris Scott said of Selwood.

“The feedback that we got was that he was a bit sore posttraining on Thursday, but they wanted to give him as long as possible to get over it.

“We play in six days, so it’s hard to say. The feedback we got is that it’s not serious.”

Selwood had back surgery in 2011, but Scott said the club’s medical staff believed the fresh injury is not related.

The Cats are optimistic Brandan Parfitt is not far from returning from a foot injury, but the coach said he would be unlikely this week, while there is no clarity about a return date for Dan Menzel (groin).

“It’s just a really strange one that no one can explain,” Scott said.

“They (the medical staff) are saying they’re not too worried; I might be a bit more worried, we want him in the team.

“We took him out to manage him and we want him back.”

But Scott said the returns of Harry Taylor and Gary Ablett, as well as a trio through the VFL, read well for the club’s injury list.

“Harry Taylor came back after a relatively long-term issue and performed well,” he said.

“We had Lincoln McCarthy come back and play his first game in the VFL.

“Sam Simpson came back; Sam was playing in our AFL team last year so that gives us hope, and Quinton Narkle played his first game back from an ACL as well.

“We seem to still be losing a couple every week but to have those four guys (plus Ablett) come back, and besides Harry, we weren’t too worried about how they performed.

“We just wanted them to get through and feel good.”