Time is running out for spearhead Nathan Thompson to be fit for North Melbourne's finals campaign.
Thompson, still battling an ankle injury, will not face Port Adelaide on Saturday and was also highly unlikely to play in the VFL for Werribee.
That would all but rule out his hopes of winning a recall for the Kangaroos' first final.
Even if Thompson lined up next week for Werribee in the VFL finals, the 30-year-old will have had just two matches under his belt in almost eight weeks to prepare for a cut-throat final, if North Melbourne is still alive.
North Melbourne coach Dean Laidley said Thompson, the club's leading goal-kicker in 2006 before sitting out all of 2007 with a knee injury, still had a big role to play 'but it's a bit of a wait and see'.
Lengthening the odds of Thompson returning is the Kangaroos' glut of tall options.
Asked whether he could squeeze big men David Hale, Hamish McIntosh, Drew Petrie, Aaron Edwards and Thompson in the one team, Laidley said: "They all won't play in the same side."
"The race is on."
Hale, who bagged a career-best eight goals last week against Geelong, and Petrie are safe but ruckman McIntosh and forwards Edwards and Thompson have all played little football recently due to injury.
"We've got guys back but we've also got guys back who have missed a lot of footy," Laidley said.
"You wouldn't want to be taking too many of those guys into a finals campaign."
Edwards gets his chance to cement a place in senior side this week when he plays his first senior game since breaking his leg in Round 6 against Sydney. The high-leaping forward has since played three games in the VFL for North Ballarat.
While a win will guarantee North retains fourth place, Laidley bristled at suggestions the club already had one eye on Geelong the following week.
"We don't talk about who we play and who we might play the following week until we win this game of footy," Laidley said.
"It's a bit of a myth with the media guys that we start to talk about what may or may not occur."
"You just can't afford to do that in this competition otherwise you get your pants pulled down."