A heartening win and some bright news on the injury front have done little to temper Brisbane coach Michael Voss's caution ahead of Saturday night's AFL clash with North Melbourne.

The Lions have welcomed back talented utility Jared Brennan earlier than expected from an ankle injury that kept him out of three games.

Voss was also encouraged by signs that star forwards Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola appear to be overcoming injury niggles, after both kicked four goals in last weekend's gutsy victory over Collingwood.

But Voss said it was too early to suggest the season was back on track after the end to their five-match losing streak.

"As soon as you ever feel like that, that's when you get bitten on the butt in this game," the coach said at their training session in Melbourne on Friday.

"This competition is very close and it's about hanging in there and really being able to celebrate your wins, yes, but certainly turn your minds very quickly to next week's opposition."

But Voss was encouraged by Brown and Fevola, who have played every game this season while at times struggling physically.

"They're certainly moving around a lot better now, Browny did a training session yesterday ... he's done everything he needed to do to get himself right and he's certainly showing a really good improvement."

Brennan's return was also a pleasant surprise, with the club expecting him to miss another week.

After a horror run with injuries earlier in the season, Brennan's return is the only change this week.

"It's probably the first time I can remember we haven't made at least two or three changes, so your side becomes a little bit more settled," Voss said.

"With that comes responsibility and an expectation that we can back up what we did last week."

But he expected the Kangaroos to come out fighting after big losses to the Western Bulldogs and Fremantle in the past two rounds.

His personal knowledge of their coach Brad Scott, a former premiership teammate at the Lions and still a close friend, left him in little doubt he would have the Kangaroos at fever pitch.

"He certainly would have put a fair bit of onus on them this week to turn that around and find out a fair bit about his group," Voss said.

"That's North Melbourne, we know that's what they're going to come out like."

The Kangaroos have again lost star big man Drew Petrie to a foot injury, among three changes, including the return from injury of slick midfielder Daniel Wells.

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