Collingwood are set to keep faith with out-of-form forward Paul Medhurst for Saturday's AFL preliminary final against Geelong.

Medhurst has struggled in recent games but the club hinted on Wednesday that his previous good performances against the Cats could save him from the axe.

Collingwood assistant coach Blake Caracella admitted that Medhurst had been well below his his best, but the Magpies had faith he could turn around his form in time for the vital match.

"It hasn't been great," Caracella said.

"He was an All-Australian last year and he's not up to that standard this year but if you look at the stats, he's kicked three or four goals 12 or 13 (points) over the last so many weeks.

"So he's been having shots but not kicking goals.

"If you look at the game last time against Geelong (in round three this season) he played really well and kicked three goals so he'll be a chance to play."

The Magpies trained briefly on the MCG on Wednesday, with injury clouds still hovering over several of their biggest names.

Midfield star Scott Pendlebury is almost certain to miss out again, having broken his leg 10 days ago.

"Fingers crossed he may be right, but it's a long shot," Caracella said.

"He's looking after his body, he had the operation straight away but a broken bone normally takes six weeks to heal and play."

Key forward Anthony Rocca (ankle) would also be unlikely to play against the Cats, but could return if the Magpies advance to the grand final.

Caracella said ruckman Josh Fraser, who has a knee injury, was moving well while Dayne Beams remains hopeful of overcoming a calf problem.

Collingwood trailed by 32 points midway through the second quarter of last weekend's semi-final against Adelaide before storming home to secure a dramatic five-point win.

Caracella admitted that a similar performance against Geelong on Saturday night would lose them the game.

"There's no doubt playing Geelong or any team in a prelim final you've got to play four quarters of footy because they're all good teams.

"If we can't play at least three-and-a-half to four quarters of good footy then it's going to be very hard to win," he said.

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