LANCE Franklin still has to pass a test on a troublesome calf, but coach Alastair Clarkson expects his star full-forward to play in Saturday night's blockbuster against Geelong at the MCG.

Franklin, 24, missed last weekend's come-from-behind win against Fremantle after reporting calf soreness following the Hawks' 29-point win over the Western Bulldogs.

However, the 129-game veteran trained well on Friday to press his case for a quick return to the team.  

"We'll assess him this afternoon and tomorrow morning but we're expecting that he's going to play," Clarkson said from Waverley Park.

"It was a pretty slight injury, but we didn't know too much about it coming out of the Western Bulldogs' game.

"He just got sore and it didn't settle as well as we'd like for last week's game, but if he pulls up ok from today's session then he should be fine. He trained pretty solidly yesterday and he pulled up fine today so I'd imagine he'll be OK to go tomorrow night."

Clarkson said the club's medical staff was unable to ascertain whether the injury was a slight strain or a corked muscle and had decided on a cautious approach designed to avoid aggravating the issue.

The return of Franklin, who has kicked 35 goals this season, is a significant boost to the Hawks' attacking capabilities, but Clarkson is backing his team's defensive work to be the key factor if it is to halt a run of five losses to the Cats since the 2008 grand final.

"We know full well that if it's a shootout type of a game then that suits Geelong right down to the ground," he said.

"If it's a little bit more of a grind then that makes it back in our favour … slightly. If it's a shootout tomorrow night then I reckon we're going to be on the end of another loss to the Cats."

Geelong overcame a sluggish start to defeat Hawthorn 17.15 to 15.8 at the MCG in round five of this season, but Clarkson is confident the Hawks have acted on the lessons learned that day.     

"It will be a real test for us [on Saturday night] just to see how much we've improved over the past five games," he said.

"Our players are all looking forward to it, I'm looking forward to it as a coach and I know the rest of the coaching staff are as well.

"By the definition of games won thus far they're the benchmark, although everyone suggests Collingwood are, but those two sides are the best teams in the competition and we've got to see if we can bridge the gap a little bit."