Vickery was banished to the VFL after round three, having disappointed by averaging 10 disposals and claiming only five marks and one goal.

He has been a consistent performer at Box Hill, booting two goals last weekend against his former side Richmond as the VFL Hawks maintained their unbeaten record.

He returns to a side decimated through injury, with Cyril Rioli (knee), set to miss about eight weeks, defenders Ben Stratton (knee) and James Frawley (toe) and ruckman Jack Fitzpatrick (concussion) all missing from the side which toppled Brisbane last weekend.

Coach Alastair Clarkson said Vickery's poor early season form had been compounded by the Hawks' shaky ball movement, but he hoped the forward-ruckman was ready to do a "job".

"He has snipped off those locks. Hopefully, it's a good omen for him (to) play some good footy for us," he said on Friday.

"Hopefully, we are moving the ball a bit differently to what we were in the first three or four games - we just couldn't get it down to our forwards to give them good enough supply. And when it was getting down there, he wasn't doing as well as we would have liked him to do. He has gone back to Box Hill, played some good footy and gets his chance again this week."

Along with Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O'Meara, Vickery, 26, was one of three major recruits the Hawks snared during last year's trade period.

"He went back (to the VFL) with the right attitude. He is an experienced player, respected member of two clubs now," Clarkson said.

"He is highly regarded at Richmond and he is here as well. So, he went back in the right manner, played some good footy and, hopefully, that transfers into playing some good footy because he has played a lot of good senior footy over eight years of playing AFL. We are hopeful he will come in and do a job for us."

The Hawks have won their past two matches and three of the past four and will face the Pies knowing they have not been beaten by them since the 2011 preliminary final.

"We have seen with the Pies throughout the course of this year they have played some pretty good footy," Clarkson said.

"They have been in every game they have played. They are 2-6 but they could easily be 5-3 or 6-2. They have played some good footy. We have been more inconsistent than them, to be fair."

While it's a small sample size, the Hawks have made improvements in the past fortnight, against Melbourne and the Lions.

Having been thumped in points scored from turnovers between rounds one and six (-26 points, ranked last), they have tightened up since (+11 points - ranked 2nd).

In terms of scores from clearance differentials, they were -16 points between rounds one and six (ranked 17) but have been +10 points (ranked fifth) in the past fortnight.

"We have just been a little bit more competitive. It's not just about our ball movement, it's also been about being able to defend behind the ball," Clarkson said.

"In the first four rounds of the season, we were just giving up far too many goals. Some of it has got to do with our defence, some of it has got to do with the way we are moving the footy. We are trying to fix up both in a little bit over the last three or four weeks."

Mitchell continued his fine season with 36 touches against the Lions. He is the only Hawk in the top-50 across the league for average disposals. The Pies have three in the top 25 - Scott Pendlebury, Adam Treloar and Taylor Adams. The Magpies are ranked sixth for disposals, contested possession and clearances yet have only the two wins, and face another season of missing the finals.

The Hawks have improved their efficiency in the past month and need the likes of Billy Hartung - a man the Hawks are waiting to become a consistent force - and Liam Shiels to again have strong games.

Clarkson said Rioli had escaped surgery but his injured knee was in a brace and he was expected to miss up to 12 weeks.

O'Meara, also battling knee problems, is being put through a block of training, with Clarkson hopeful of a return soon.

"He is progressing OK through that. We are hopeful it will be some time in the next month," he said.