HAWTHORN won't take any risks with injured defender Matt Suckling in Friday night's qualifying final against Geelong at the MCG.

Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson all but guaranteed skipper Luke Hodge, Brad Hill and Ben Stratton would come back into the side on Thursday and indicated full-back Brian Lake (corked hip) would also take his place.

However, Suckling has already been ruled out of the blockbuster final.

The penetrating left-footer hurt his knee in the Hawks' come-from-behind 23-point win over Geelong in round 22 and missed Hawthorn's final home and away match last weekend.

"He won’t play this week unfortunately, he hasn't quite come up," Clarkson said.

"He's tracking pretty well, but it just wasn't quite the progress that we would have liked for him to be able to play on Friday night.

"He'll hopefully get himself right for the next game we play – whether that's next week or the week after."

The Hawks' match committee is in an enviable position, with Suckling and Cyril Rioli (hamstring) the only regulars unavailable.

It leaves the reigning premiers with some tough calls to make at the selection table.

Ruckman Ben McEvoy is in the mix after he kept the pressure on Jonathon Ceglar and David Hale by booting four goals in a best-on-ground display for Box Hill last Saturday.

"We rate all three of those guys as being guys that can play some good footy for us from time to time, and whether that's in the ruck or forward, we like them to be able to do both and contribute in both areas of the ground," Clarkson said.

"When we've got those guys performing well, then we think we're a better side."

The Cats are likely to welcome back key playmaker Steve Johnson from a foot injury on Friday night, bolstering the side that had the Hawks on the ropes leading by 33 points early in the third quarter in round 22.

Geelong coach Chris Scott declared the ensuing loss as "mission accomplished" and has hinted the Cats held a few aces up their sleeves as the Hawks charged to victory.

But Clarkson refused to buy into speculation about how Geelong might attack the qualifying final.

"You're better to speak to 'Scotty' about that than me. We just go out and play footy and what Geelong do and what their approach to the game is (is) completely different to ours probably," he said.

The Hawks have won two of their past three against their arch-rivals after snapping an 11-game losing streak in last year's preliminary final.

But any extra belief the Hawks' players might have gained was of no concern to Clarkson.

"We don't care, we just look forward to the next game," he said.

"Whether it was Geelong, Fremantle or Sydney we were going to play (a qualifying final) against a really, really high quality opponent and we look forward to that chance to try and progress through to a prelim.”