Watch Alastair Clarkson's full press conference in the HawksTV player above.

HAWTHORN is bracing itself for a fired up Carlton at the MCG on Friday night.

The Blues have lost five of their past six matches, leaving them outside the top eight and with their finals prospects delicately balanced.

But after competitive performances in their past two outings, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson warned his team not to take their opponent lightly.

"It's going to be a great battle," Clarkson said at Waverley on Thursday.

"We know Carlton haven't been at their best over the last five or six weeks, but that's even more reason why we need to be right on our guard, because we expect a really fired up Carlton side.

"Their last two performances in particular, the Geelong game and the West Coast game, we respect both of those opponents enormously, and Carlton have been right in both of those games.

"So even though they haven't won many games … their form has been pretty good."

Hawks captain Luke Hodge joined his teammates on the ground for Thursday's training as he continues his comeback from a knee injury.

With his knee strapped, Hodge took part in all drills during the light session, running and kicking freely.

Hodge won't play any football - at AFL or VFL level - this weekend, but Clarkson said his return is getting close.

"He's available to play, and he's doing the full session today, but he's missed a lot of footy," Clarkson said.

"We just need to decide what his best program is in terms of re-entry to footy, whether it's VFL or straight back into the AFL.

"We'll determine that over the next week or two, but we just want to get a good training block into him and make sure when he does return that he's capable of playing the rest of the season for us.

"It'll be pretty handy to have our captain back in the last part of the year."

Hawthorn will have Jordan Lewis (suspension) and Brendan Whitecross (injury) available for the Blues clash.

Mark Macgugan covers Hawks news for AFL.com.au and hawthornfc.com.au. Twitter: @AFL_MarkM.