Collingwood are confident veteran defender Simon Prestigiacomo and midfielder Sharrod Wellingham will be available for Friday night's AFL preliminary final against Geelong.

Prestigiacomo has not played since round 20 due to a corked thigh, while Wellingham hurt his ankle during the qualifying final victory over the Western Bulldogs.

However Magpies assistant coach Scott Watters has backed the pair to complete this week's training sessions.

"Their preparation's been building over the last week or two," Watters said on Tuesday.

"They're both progressing very well. We've got two sessions to go before we'll finalise a side and we are really hopeful for both of them.

"We'd think they'd both be available for selection."

While Wellingham and Prestigiacomo needed to be fit enough to play, Watters indicated they could be selected while still not 100 per cent.

If Prestigiacomo - at 32, the oldest player on Collingwood's list - comes back into the side, it would likely be in place of Nathan Brown.

Watters said Collingwood would start with a "blank canvas" at selection this week, meaning the likes of Tarkyn Lockyer, Tyson Goldsack and Paul Medhurst would all be seriously considered to take on the Cats, despite missing the big win over the Bulldogs.

Watters said there was a "real quiet maturity" about the players now.

"The thing that has impressed me is the way we've gone about our preparation coming into games - really thoughtful, really measured, which is a good sign of maturity," he said.

Watters refused to be drawn into replying to Cats coach Mark Thompson's jibe that Geelong is the only team that has tasted grand final success and failure in the past three years and would cope better with the pressure.

"We're respectful of their history and what they've done but our preparation really doesn't change.

"The most important thing is not the pre-game banter - it is what happens on Friday night - we're really action-focused and that's the way we'll stay," he said.

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