Hawthorn are confident captain Luke Hodge will be back to full fitness soon after being dogged by an achilles problem.

Hodge will line up against Melbourne in tomorrow's twilight match at the MCG, according to coach Alistair Clarkson.

Clarkson said the injury had been managed through the pre-season but believes Hodge will be trouble-free by the midway point of the year.

"He's got an achilles injury that's grumbled along and it's good enough for him to be able to train and play and get himself right," Clarkson said on Saturday.

"He played the last two games at (VFL side) Box Hill and he's got himself some match conditioning which is important for him.

"But what's also important is the way we manage his training load during the week.

"How he pulls up is going to be an on-going process for probably the first half of the season but it's certainly good enough for him to be able to play and he's going to get better from here on in.

"If we didn't think he could make a really good contribution to our senior side he'd still be playing at Box Hill," Clarkson said.

"When he goes out there and plays tomorrow evening it won't be on the basis that we don't think that he can play to his capabilities, because we think he can.

"It's mainly his mid-week program and we don't have as heavy a load on his legs to perhaps stir up a tendon injury.

"They can be very difficult to manage and we've probably been ultra-conservative leading into the season given it's a long one and we want to get him right."

Meanwhile, Clarkson is becoming more wary of Melbourne after their round one draw with Sydney.

"They've been on a pretty impressive buildup, the Demons, over the last two or three years.

"They've injected a lot of youth into their footy club and some of those guys are starting to really stand up for them and come to the fore," he said.

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