HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson is confident Luke Hodge is ready to make a valuable contribution to the team despite the skipper's ongoing battle with an Achilles tendon injury.

Hodge, 26, has been hampered by the injury for the past 10 weeks, but Clarkson said his ability to play out two games at VFL level had convinced the match committee he was ready to lead the side against Melbourne on Sunday.

"If we didn't anticipate that he was going to able to make a really good contribution to our senior side then he'd still be playing at Box Hill," Clarkson told hawthornfc.com.au.

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

Hodge has been nursed through the pre-season program since the tendon injury flared in January and Clarkson admitted he won't be back in full training for some time.

"It's going to be an ongoing process for probably the best part of the first half of the season," he said.

"It's settled enough for him to be able to play and get back to back sessions and back to back games so he's going to get better from here on in.

"It's good enough for him to be able to play and train and get himself right. He's played the last two games at Box Hill to get himself some match conditioning, which is important for him, but what's also important for him is the way we manage his training loads during the week.

"He's gone for a light run early this morning and he'll be right to go tomorrow, with some hope."

Clarkson said the club had rightly taken an ultra-conservative approach with Hodge given his importance to the side and the length of the season and is confident that strategy will ultimately pay dividends.

Luke Hodge is a $428,300 midfielder in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition.