SYDNEY could be bolstered by the inclusion of Kurt Tippett for Friday night’s blockbuster against Hawthorn at ANZ Stadium but Lance Franklin remains in doubt.

Coach John Longmire stopped short of declaring Tippett a certain starter but his return appears immenent after recovering from a cracked rib in his return from knee tendonitis with Sydney’s reserves.

Tippett, who was outstanding in his first season at the Swans in 2013, kicking 35 goals in just 12 games for his new club would be a welcome addition to the Sydney forward line that has already been bolstered in the last fortnight by the returns of Adam Goodes and Sam Reid.

“Kurt's looking a strong chance," Longmire told media on Monday.

"He did a hard session on Saturday and pulled up really well and at this stage he looks as if he'll be training on Wednesday.

"If he gets through that, as we expect him to, he'll certainly be putting his hand up to play."

But the news isn’t as good for Lance Franklin, who remains in doubt to face his old club with a knee injury.

Franklin hurt his knee against the Demons at the MCG in Round 6 and was subbed out of the game in the third term.

With the likely inclusion of Tippett, coupled with the returns of Goodes and Reid, Longmire and the Swans will likely take a more than cautious approach with Franklin.

“He's been improving each day, we'll have a chat about it again tomorrow at our medical meeting but we may not know any more until Wednesday's training whether he plays or not," Longmire said.

"It's still a few days to go yet and we're a bit uncertain whether he'll be OK or not.”

Longmire confirmed Franklin would need to train strongly with his teammates on Wednesday to be in contention for Friday night’s blockbuster.

"It's (his knee) been improving, whether he improves enough by Wednesday, we'll have that discussion,” Longmire said.

"We'd expect him to do some training if he was going to play, so he'd have to do some training on Wednesday."

The Swans will, however, be without Mike Pyke due to a hamstring strain.

Following the departure of premiership ruckman Shane Mumford, Pyke has assumed the number one ruck mantle at the Swans but won’t be available after being subbed out with injury during the second quarter against the Lions last week.

It means the ruck duties will be left to former Tiger, Tom Derickx, who will battle in-form Hawk pair Ben McEvoy and David Hale.