Star Melbourne trio Nathan Jones, Jack Viney and Jake Melksham have all been passed fit to take on Port Adelaide in their AFL season-opening encounter at the MCG.
Jones (hamstring), Viney (foot/ankle) and Melksham (hamstring) have all been limited during the pre-season, but coach Simon Goodwin told reporters all three will play against Port on Saturday.
"They're three really experienced guys and all had their eye on preparing for round one, so those guys are ready to go," Goodwin said on Wednesday.
"Six weeks ago we targeted their program towards round one, so they've done a lot of the load.
"They could have played in (the second pre-season game) but we opted to play them in the VFL to optimise their minutes on the ground.
"Their whole preparation has been shaped for this."
Viney has been troubled by related foot and ankle injuries since 2017.
The co-captain had post-season ankle surgery following the Demons' preliminary final loss to West Coast, but Goodwin is confident the club's medical staff are on top of the issue at last.
"We think we've got his loads right and he's raring to go," he said.
"He hasn't been in a position to start a season in this shape for a long time."
Melbourne raised the bar with last year's barnstorming run to the preliminary final and are widely tipped to secure a top-four berth then challenge for this season's premiership flag.
"I think expectation is healthy," Goodwin said.
"I think we'd all like to be in that position (to challenge) but we certainly now the work ahead of us.
"We've really got to focus on us and really being the best version of how we want to play and that starts on Saturday."
Australian Associated Press
