Collingwood named captain Nathan Buckley in its squad, ensuring a weekend of intense speculation ahead of Monday's AFL match against Melbourne at the MCG.

The Magpies could have the Brownlow Medallist as an emergency in their final side, meaning they will wait until just before the game before confirming whether he plays.

Collingwood do not have to drop three players from their squad of 25 until Saturday afternoon.

In the meantime, Buckley could resume in the Williamstown seconds, who play on Saturday.

Buckley has been out since needing radical hamstring surgery, a few days after struggling against the Western Bulldogs in round one.

While the more conservative approach would be to bring him back after the mid-season break, giving him another fortnight, Buckley has looked extremely sharp at training.

Top Magpie officials fuelled the uncertainty - coach Mick Malthouse said Wednesday morning Buckley "could be back this week".

Later in the day, football manager Neil Balme said it was "pretty unlikely" that Buckley would line up against the Demons.

While one AFL captain could return this long weekend, Geelong skipper Steven King will miss Sunday's home match against Adelaide with a calf muscle injury.

"Steven pulled up with calf soreness after training indoors on Wednesday," said Cats football manager Garry Davidson.

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