North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson says key defender Charlie Comben is as "good as gold" after missing last week's game against Fremantle with a hairline fracture in his scapula.
The Kangaroos were unsure how long Comben would be sidelined for, but after an "extraordinary" turnaround, he'll face Carlton at the MCG on Saturday.
"I've seen that many times before when I was at Hawthorn. Campbell Brown had something very similar. He was able to play in a quick period of time and not miss much footy," Clarkson said.
"The unfortunate part of our game is you're going to get knocked, and bashed and crashed a bit, but then it becomes a pain tolerance thing.
"And I'm sure it's going to happen with Charlie. But he's been able to get himself right.
"He's been able to do all the training this week. We just needed to rest it last week to let the trauma and the bleeding settle down. I think he's surprised himself, let alone us, that he'll be available to play this week.
"His improvement in the last six or seven days has been extraordinary."
Comben will likely be tasked with curbing Blues spearhead Charlie Curnow, who has been named despite being placed under an injury cloud.
Curnow experienced calf tightness during the win over West Coast last week, and was managed throughout the contest once the Blues were home and hosed.
"We played Cam Zurhaar in a similar situation last week," Clarkson said.
"Some guys have little niggles here and there. They probably protected him by taking him out of the game (against West Coast).
"They could have afforded to take that luxury of resting him to not do any further damage, if there even is further damage there at all.
"We'll be preparing for the side that's picked by Carlton, and at the minute, that has Charlie in it."
