Geelong coach Mark Thompson has admitted concern about how the AFL pacesetters coped with the round-14 blockbuster against St Kilda.

Nearly a third of the team which lost an epic match to the Saints by a goal missed Saturday night's round 15 loss to Brisbane at the `Gabba.

The six-day break and the trip north clearly compounded the problem.

"It was a fantastic game (against Saints), a tough man's game, played all the way to the end and, then, to not recover means that we weren't ready for that sort of game," Thompson said after losing to Brisbane.

"So we have to work on that as well."

He expects two or three of the players who missed the Lions game to return for Saturday's home match against Melbourne.

Despite Geelong's injury woes and Melbourne's two successive wins, the Cats will start overwhelming favourites even if they remain undermanned.

Gary Ablett (calf) and Matthew Scarlett (back) head those who played the Saints and then missed the Brisbane game.

The others were Andrew Mackie (thigh), Darren Milburn (ankle), Cameron Ling (knee tendinitis), Travis Varcoe (shoulder) and James Kelly (hamstring).

Top forward Steve Johnson was forced out of the Saints match with a hip injury and remains sidelined.

Max Rooke (shoulder) and Nathan Djerrkura (quad) also hurt themselves in the Brisbane loss.

But the most serious casualty from the game was Lions utility Jed Adcock, who will need a season-ending knee reconstruction.

Team-mate Matt Austin also hurt his back.

Demons defender Daniel Bell is out of action for around a month after injuring his shoulder in Sunday's upset win over Port Adelaide.

Collingwood ruckman Josh Fraser threw a massive scare into the club in the last quarter of Friday night's one-point win over the Western Bulldogs.

He limped from the field with a sore knee and went straight to the rooms.

But Fraser, who damaged his posterior cruciate ligament last year, was back on the ground a few minutes later.

While he will undergo treatment this week, the Magpies are confident he will be fit for Saturday night's MCG match against Hawthorn.

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