Mitch McGovern will return for Carlton this weekend as they take on GWS at Marvel Stadium.
McGovern has been unsighted since Round 2 after he injured his hamstring before suffering a setback which threatened to derail his season.
The 27-year-old returned to footy via the VFL last weekend where he had 17 disposals and kicked a goal.
Deployed as an intercept defender under new coach Michael Voss, the injury plagued former Crow had a good start to the season averaging 14 disposals and 5 marks per game.
Having only managed five games last season due to a similar hamstring injury, Carlton fans will be cautiously optimistic about what McGovern can deliver ahead of a potential finals campaign.
Speaking ahead of the Blues' clash with the Giants, Voss said that McGovern's absence had been felt and that he will be very welcomed inclusion.
"We’ve missed him," Voss said.
"He was a pretty important member of our team earlier this season. It was bit unfortunate that he had that setback but it's good to get him back.
"From a personnel point of view, we’ve lost a few but it’s good to get him back at this time of the year.
Voss said McGovern wasn't being rushed back into the senior team, with the club taking a meticulous approach to his recovery.
"I think the purpose of last week was that the VFL gave us the chance to manage anything if we needed to but he got through so well," said Voss.
"He’s had a great block of training now, we’ve been able to get a quality five or six weeks under his belt: the last box he needed to tick was playing VFL and he was always going to come straight back into the side when he was available.
"The continuity is really important. It’s one thing to get people back into your team, but when they’ve been missing for a long time, those relationships and that connection that they have and that they build with their other defenders is really important.
"It gives us a chance to build that, we’ve got some pretty important games coming up so it’s timely that he returns."
McGovern is one of several Blues returning from injury, with Jacob Weitering returning a fortnight ago and Marc Pittonet and Caleb Marchbank playing VFL this weekend while Zac Williams is set to return before the end of the season.
Carlton host GWS at Marvel Stadium on Sunday at 1:10pm.
