Brett Deledio risks missing up to two months of football if he re-injures his quadriceps against Melbourne on Sunday night, according to former AFL club doctor Rohan White.

Deledio, the Tigers' key playmaker forward of centre, was on Friday afternoon named to face the Demons for what would be his first match of the season. However, Richmond are yet to confirm whether the veteran will play, with a decision to made closer to the match.

The Tigers have included Deledio, Jake Batchelor, Ivan Maric, Anthony Miles and Steven Morris, at the expense of Shaun Hampson, Andrew Moore, Taylor Hunt, Nick Vlastuin and Ben Lennon. Hampson and Vlastuin have leg injuries, while the other three have been dropped.

Richmond are 1-3, and statistics show they desperately need their vice-captain to return. They have won 25 of the 37 matches Deledio has played since the start of 2014, and just three of the 11 he has missed in that period.

But  White, who worked for St Kilda, said that if Deledio wasn't yet right to play  he could miss more than the four matches for which he's been unavailable  in 2016.

"The recurrent quad is still a problem. If Brett was to further strain or tear his quadriceps on Sunday, that is possibly going to turn into a two-month injury for him,"  White said.

"Nothing can reproduce the activity in a game of football that may lead that muscle to further injury.

"We're certainly talking many weeks. If you cause pain in your quadriceps, it's not one of those things where we'll say 'oh, he's back in a week or two.' "

"As a general rule, if you re-injure your quadriceps muscle, it can be up to six to eight weeks for rehabilitation.

"The problem with it is that footballers being footballers, they often hasten to get back."

White noted the particular challenges  associated with the quadriceps.

"You can have a significant quadriceps injury, but on jogging and moderate running you don't even feel it.

"It's not until you get to a fast stride or sudden acceleration that you can feel it."

Richmond forward Ty Vickery said on Friday that Deledio would bring a lot to the Tigers team should he take on the Demons

"He's a really elite player in the competition, playing through half-forward and in the midfield. His ball use is really good and we know with him we get 20-plus quality touches in the forward half," Vickery said.

Meanwhile, Carlton have named forward Liam Jones for his first game of the season against Fremantle on Sunday, with Nick Graham omitted.