Howe will he do it? Pie to play through pain

HE won’t train today, but high-flying Collingwood star Jeremy Howe insists he will play in Saturday’s grand final.

Howe yesterday revealed he will almost certainly need a painkilling injection to overcome the ankle injury sustained in Friday night’s preliminary final win over Richmond, but it won’t be enough to cost him a place in the Magpies’ team to tackle West Coast.

Asked in front of a packed media throng at the Holden Centre if he was any doubt, Howe quipped: “Nup”.

“I think it had the potential to be a serious injury with that movement but scans ended up clearing me of any major damage,” he said.

“That probably put my mind at ease. It’s just a matter of getting a bit of the swelling out of the ankle and getting the mobility and movement back.”

Howe limped from the ground in the third quarter after his foot was caught under him in a Daniel Rioli tackle.

And while he returned to the field and played out the match, the former Demon was in obvious pain, casting doubt over his fitness for the clash against the Eagles.

But Howe was quick to allay fears over the seriousness of the injury and confirmed he would be on light duties early this week, including skipping today’s training session.

“I can’t imagine I’ll be running around training, but we’ve got our main training session on Thursday and I’ll probably push it back until then to give it a chance to really settle down,” he said.

“But given the injury, it probably needs a couple of extra days but I’m extremely confident that it will be fine. We’ve just got to give it a chance to settle.”

Admitting he dodged a bullet with the injury, Howe’s program will now be tailored to give him as much time as possible to heal. “It will be fine if there’s a little bit of pain … it’s nothing an injection won’t help,” Howe stressed.

Since overcoming a serious corked thigh that required surgery to drain a blood clot, Howe has resumed his role in Collingwood’s makeshift defence.

He played a key part in stopping Eagles’ spearheads Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling for three quarters in the qualifying final, only for the pair to lift to victory and book a preliminary final berth.

But Howe remains steadfast his undersized backline can restrict the powerful West Coast attack.