Sydney key forward Joel Amartey is expected to make his return to the senior side after missing the past month of football with a hamstring injury.
Amartey was last seen in Round 5 against Collingwood, and will be a welcome return to the Swans forward line, who have struggled to kick winning scores in 2025.
Coach Dean Cox said the 25-year-old is all but set to face Cartlon on Friday night at the SCG, but will need to tick off the week's training.
"Joel's a little bit different (to Callum). He's missed four weeks with a hamstring injury," Cox said.
"He's trained for a week and a bit. We expect if he can get through training today that he'll be available."
Sydney captain Callum Mills is also pressing his case for a return after spending the entire start of the season on the sidelines with foot and calf issues, plaguing his last 14 months.
Cox didn't confirm whether Mills would be brought into the AFL side, or spend time in the reserves, given he has only played seven top-flight matches in the past two campaigns.
"With Callum, we've always said we'll sit down with him following each session about what the next one looks like," Cox said.
"This is the last one he needs to get through before he decides to play a game, so hopefully that can happen.
"I don't like getting too far ahead before players actually tick off what they need to."
Cox is still without a host of stars due to injury, but veteran Taylor Adams made a return in the VFL last weekend.
Adams had been nursing a hamstring injury, and got through the game unscathed, but failed to make a lasting impact, gathering 14 disposals and three clearances in the 65-point loss.
Depth ruckman Peter Ladhams produced a handy performance, amassing 23 touches, 17 hit-outs, seven clearances and eight marks, while father-son prospect Indhi Kirk impressed.
"One thing you find with the VFL, they probably didn't perform at the level that we needed them to as a team and a collective, so Taylor was a part of that," Cox said.
"We need to make sure that he gets back to training fully, but speaking to him after the game, he was good to get through the first one and is now really confident in his body that he's available for selection.
"That's one thing we'll have to work out, what it does look like."
