Western Bulldogs forward Cody Weightman is a chance to make his long-awaited AFL return against Collingwood as club medical staff consider soft-tissue injury risks after a long lay-off.

Weightman has not played at any level since the Bulldogs' 2024 elimination final loss to Hawthorn because of a nightmare run of knee injuries.

But the 25-year-old goal-sneak has re-joined the Dogs' main training group in recent weeks and could be thrust straight into senior ranks against the Magpies at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.

"We'd love him to play as soon as he can," Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said following his side's three-point win over Melbourne on Sunday.

"He's trained through, he's had a couple of important weeks. We don't know whether he'll be available this week.

"We just need to keep working through it with him and the medical staff, considering he's been out that long."

Beveridge said Weightman has made significant progress in his comeback bid, but still needs to be given medical approval to return to action.

"We feel like he's got over the injuries, the surgery and the infections and everything that he's been through," Beveridge said.

"Now we're just trying to make sure with the rest of his body and the soft-tissue risk: has he been through the right build-up, have we exposed him to enough for a senior game?

"We'll keep working through it between now and the next week or two, and if he maintains his physical health, he'll probably be available in the next fortnight.

"I can't tell you whether it's this week or next week. Hopefully he keeps that trajectory that he's on."

The Bulldogs are also hopeful ruck star Tim English will return against Collingwood after two weeks out with concussion.

One teammate who won't be available is defender Luke Cleary, who was concussed in a collision with Melbourne's Max Heath.

Cleary was also concussed in a horror incident last season, when he copped an accidental knee to the head from North Melbourne's Jackson Archer.

"Luke's had one or two head knocks over the journey and so we'll get a handle on how many he's had in the past," Beveridge said.

"We'll look after him, like we do all our other players, and be conservative with him.

"Hopefully he's rattled but he's going to be OK in a couple of weeks. We'll see."

The Bulldogs (6-5) and Collingwood (5-5-1) occupy the last two "wildcard" spots on the ladder after both securing wins last round.