Reid, who proved an important "swingman" for the Pies up forward in 2013, played just four senior games last season, plagued by calf, quad and hamstring injuries.

He suffered another setback with his "good" calf in training shortly before the Christmas break, by which stage Collingwood were so concerned about a potential inherent soft-tissue weakness they sent him and a club physiotherapist to Germany on a fact-finding mission.

But Reid has trained strongly since his return, and on Saturday managed to play out Collingwood's VFL practice match against Geelong. As a result, Magpie football manager Neil Balme said Reid was a 50-50 chance for the game against the Lions.

"He's pulled up well," Balme said. "He took a while to find the footy, and as the game went on he looked more comfortable, so he won't be far away."

Reid could potentially have his first taste of senior action when Collingwood takes on the Western Bulldogs in their final NAB Challenge clash at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

"With a bloke like him, we certainly won't take any risks. It seems logical that we would consider him, but it's just a matter of how he improves during the week," Balme said.

"I think we probably overreacted in a way [to the December setback] because all he had was a little bit of a soft-tissue problem with his calf. But he wasn't doing that much when he hurt himself, so we were a little bit concerned that it might have been systemic.

"So we thought let's really have a good look at him and see if there were any underlying problems, and it seems as though there's not, and if there are, we're certainly on top of them, so we're pretty comfortable with that."

Collingwood is also confident ruckman Brodie Grundy will be available this weekend after being subbed out of Sunday's game against Carlton at half-time after taking a knock to his side.

"It's just a bit of a bruised hip, so he should be fine," Balme said. "It was a pretty willing, physical game, so we're probably pretty lucky we've got no serious injuries out of it."

The Magpies aren't short of potential replacements if Grundy doesn't come up, with Jarrod Witts getting through the VFL practice game, American experiment Mason Cox acquitting himself well in the second half, and rookie-listed Corey Gault now in line for promotion to the senior list after some impressive pre-season form.

Gault, who played his first AFL game in the last round last season, kicked two goals in the Pies' first NAB Challenge game against Hawthorn and impressed playing on All-Australian defender James Frawley. On Sunday he had an entertaining battle with Carlton's Kristian Jaksch.

If the youngster is promoted, he will come on to the list for Brent Macaffer, who will be placed on the long-term injury list after seriously injuring his knee late last season. Macaffer is not expected to be available for selection until mid-season.

"We asked 'Caff' last week whether he was happy to go on the long-term injury list and he will, so there is a space there," Balme said.

"We've got decisions to make, but certainly 'Gaulty' over the last couple of weeks has really shown us something. We've got quite a few [talls] in the wings, but he's certainly not far away from getting a game.

"He was very good [against Carlton], particularly early. He came to the ball really well, marked it nicely, kicked it nicely, then had to ruck a fair bit in the second half. So he had a fair bit to do, and we were very pleased with him."

Another youngster who could conceivably make his debut at senior level sooner than later is highly-rated draftee Jordan De Goey, who has showed good signs in both NAB games.

"We don't put too much pressure on first-yearers, it's always a hard year for them to get through, but he's certainly not out of place," Balme said. "It would be fine if we did play him."