Cats coach Chris Scott said he would wait until the last minute to decide if Johnson, who was concussed after colliding with Adelaide's Scott Thompson soon after the opening bounce last Saturday, would line up against the Hawks.

Johnson appeared at training at Simonds Stadium yesterday wearing a tracksuit. He watched his teammates from the sidelines before doing a few short passes and kicks and returning to the sidelines. But the lightened load wasn't out of the ordinary, it was the fact he turned up. He rarely trains early in the week. ''He seems pretty good but it's just so hard to tell that we are going to have to wait until the end of the week,'' Scott said.

''We'll wait until Thursday before doing too much work with him. We'll certainly name him in the side and then wait and see how he goes after our last training session.''

The Cats are likely to play three tall forwards on Friday. James Podsiadly is likely to return after being sidelined with an ankle injury for the past three weeks. Scott said he was unlikely to drop young forward Josh Walker, who had been playing ''an important role'' in the team.

''Josh Walker … has well and truly played well enough to hold his spot, so it would be unlikely that he would go out,'' he said. ''We have played three tall forwards quite a bit in the last year and a half. We think that can work for us.''

Veteran defender Matthew Scarlett returns from a one-match ban for striking Essendon's Cory Dell'Olio. Scott ruled out veteran midfielder Joel Corey, who injured his hamstring in the second quarter of last week's game, his 250th, and said he was unlikely to play the following week against West Coast.

For the Hawks, Lance Franklin remains in doubt as he continues to battle a hamstring injury that has sidelined him for the past three games. Scott, nevertheless, said he would plan for Franklin to play.

''I'm certainly not prepared to back a report that he's not going to play … because he's the last bloke you want to be surprised by.''