HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson admits Campbell Brown is fighting to be fit for Friday night's clash against the Bulldogs, but says the important utility will be given every opportunity to play.

Brown, who will be named in the side on Thursday night, is a crucial cog in the Hawks' machine and his coach was adamant that the tough nut would be given almost up to game time to overcome an ankle injury.

"We'll give him every minute that we can -- he's such an important player for us," Clarkson said on Thursday.

"He's been a pretty decorated player for us, he plays with a lot of spirit and when you've got a guy like that who is so resilient and so courageous [you give him a chance].

"But I think with the injury that he's got, it will be touch and go whether he will play so we'll give him until late tomorrow afternoon to decide that."

Brown did not join his teammates for a 40 minute training session at Waverley on Thursday but was put through his paces inside the club's gym.

"We've done some training with him inside and we'll work out over the course of the day just how he responds to the training that he's done," Clarkson said.

"He's got an ankle injury so he needs to be able to change direction and run at speed, and we're confident if he's able to do that he'll be able to make a contribution for us.

"He's done some of that today and we'll wait and see how it responds overnight in terms of swelling and that sort of stuff, and if he pulls up well tomorrow then he's a really good chance to play. But if he doesn't we'll go with a fresh bloke and hopefully have Brownie back pretty soon."

While hopeful of having the 25-year-old available to play in the first week of finals, Clarkson is mindful of his team's ambitions to go deep into September. 

"He's doing everything he possibly can to get himself right and if he's not quite right then we won't play him … It's a real touch and go type injury," he said.

"He hurt it in the first 10 minutes of the game last week and continued to play for the bulk of the game, so it's not catastrophic in terms of keeping him out for a long period of time. If he misses a game it might just be this one, but we're hopeful that he'll be okay."