Melbourne coach Dean Bailey has little doubt Cameron Bruce will remain a Demon, despite the veteran still being unsigned for 2011.

Bruce, who at 31 and with 224 games to his name is the oldest and most-experienced player on a youth-dominated list, has been offered a one-year deal, not the two he wants.

But despite the stand-off, Bailey believes a new deal is virtually a formality, and expects Bruce to be there when the club's older players train for the first time on Monday.

"I keep thinking that's going to be the case, so unless I hear otherwise I expect to see him here on Monday and I'm sure he'll be leading the pack like he normally does," Bailey said after watching much of his list return to training on Wednesday.

"We're under no illusions that he'll be here Monday and knowing Brucey he'll be in the top three in the runners and be prepared like he normally is.

"He's a professional in his attitude to training and everything, so we'll expect to see him Monday and away we go."

Bruce, who won Melbourne's best and fairest two years ago, was a member of the leadership group this year and came sixth in the best and fairest count, after playing 21 of 22 games.

He takes the mantle of oldest and most-experienced Demon after the club parted with 34-year-old skipper James McDonald.

Bailey said the captaincy replacement was likely to come from this year's leadership group, which also included Brad Green, Aaron Davey, Brent Moloney and Jared Rivers, although he also nominated James Frawley, Mark Jamar and Jack Grimes as potential leaders.

Star players Green and Davey are seen as the frontrunners.

Bailey said there was no definite timeline for naming a captain and also refused to be drawn on whether he expected the Demons to play finals next season.

He said the focus, in his fourth year in charge, was continued improvement, particularly defensively, with Melbourne ranked second-last for allowing opposition to penetrate their attacking 50m arc last season.

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