Brisbane Lions forward Daniel Bradshaw has withdrawn from the line-up for Saturday night's clash with Collingwood at the MCG.
Bradshaw's initial selection in the Lions 22 was highly ambitious given the short 14-day break since he strained a hamstring against Fremantle at Subiaco in Round 16.
Speaking before the team's light run at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Friday, senior coach Michael Voss said Bradshaw failed to pull up satisfactorily from the club's main session on Wednesday.
"Early in the week we weren't too sure and the physio gave me a little bit of a surprise that he might have been a chance on Tuesday," said Voss of Bradshaw.
"We ran him up and down the ground as much as we could but he just didn't come up."
"It was a little bit out of hope that he would pull up OK ... but the fortunate thing is that we've got him next week."
A decision on which of the Lions' two emergencies - Jason Roe or Travis Johnstone - would replace Bradshaw will be made on Saturday based on conditions and potential match-ups.
Voss said that in light of Bradshaw's withdrawal the onus is on the Brisbane forwards to share the goalscoring load to avoid the prospect that in-form skipper Jonathan Brown will be double or triple-teamed.
"Last week Browny kicked eight goals but I think we've other games where we've been much more Browny-conscious where we haven't seen other players," said Voss.
"But I truly believe that part of the reason he was able to get his score was that everyone else in the forward line was getting involved and that opens space for him."
"That's how you get your forward line functioning and we know that we can't rely on one person because if he gets shut down then there's no other avenue and we certainly don't want that."
"Hopefully we've got a few other spots that we can get goals from."
Voss said Simon Black's achievement in notching his 250th AFL match was certain to be mentioned in the lead-up to the game.
"Milestones are hard to achieve," said Voss.
"We don't necessarily put anyone on a soapbox individually in our team because we realise that it takes everyone to contribute on game day, but Tom Rockliff coming in for his first game and Simon Black playing his 250th, they're special occasions."
Voss said the match would go a long way towards determining whether the Lions are a genuine contender for the top-four.
"We're in complete control of our own future and ... Collingwood are on the same points but ahead on percentage so games like this become critical in the context of the season, especially in the sprint home," he said.