Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir is confident that star midfielder Hayden Young can feature against Collingwood on Sunday, noting his rehab had "been mapped out for this week".
Young has missed since Round 8 against St Kilda with a severe hamstring strain, but will be a welcome return to the Dockers, who are currently flying, winning seven of their past eight games.
In typical Longmuir fashion, the Fremantle coach remained coy on what he'd do with the classy left-footer, acknowledging "there's a few options".
"His whole rehab has been mapped out for this week. He'll train today, and then this afternoon or tomorrow we'll decide how we go with the team," Longmuir said.
"There's a few options, so whatever suits him and whatever sets him up best for the back end of the year.
"You can manage players. We've got mids who play lower game time. We can even go lower than what we do with some of the other mids.
"So there is that opportunity. But we've got to weigh up if that's the best thing for him going forward as well.
"It (sub) is in the mix."
Young's impending return could see a shift in roles for star on-ballers Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong, who have both provided the grunt during the Dockers' impressive run.
Star ruckman Luke Jackson has also been used as a midfielder once Sean Darcy returned to the side, adding much-needed size against the competition's bigger bodies.
However, Longmuir alluded to Jackson's role remaining "pretty consistent" despite the imminent personnel change.
"I'm pretty keen to keep Jacko's role going," Longmuir said. "We've chopped and changed a fair bit with Jacko, and I want to keep it pretty consistent for him.
"To have another high-quality mid come in, who is big-bodied and physical, might allow us to use Andy (Brayshaw) and Caleb (Serong) a little bit more flexibly, like we did back end of last year and like we did when 'Youngy' was in the team earlier in the year."
"It might take a little bit of the load off them."
Longmuir is also considering deploying a tag on Pies champion Nick Daicos, with speedster Corey Wagner taking the honours the last time the two teams met in Round 9.
Wagner limited Daicos to his lowest tally (18) of the year, with Craig McRae pushing him forward to test the Fremantle stopper.
The Dockers coach was also alert to the weapons of the premiership favourites exude, noting Nick's brother, Josh, as one to be wary of on Sunday.
The burden was eased, though, as reports indicated two-time All-Australian half-back Dan Houston will miss the next fortnight with an abdominal strain.
Brayshaw was cleared after a nasty gash to his head from Jackson, while captain Alex Pearce will miss again with a persistent issue in his shin.
The Dockers jumped back inside the top eight following Round 18, and will enjoy a relatively winnable three-week stretch (West Coast, Carlton and Port Adelaide) after the Pies clash, before clashes against Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs to finish the season.
