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Jordan De Goey will return from injury to bolster the Magpies' midfield against Adelaide, but Tom Mitchell has been ruled out again with a lingering foot issue.

Craig McRae has backed Collingwood's makeshift forward line to fire in the AFL clash with Adelaide as he welcomes back explosive midfielder Jordan De Goey from injury.

De Goey, who has missed the past two matches with groin soreness, completed a full training session on Thursday to prove his fitness.

The powerful 28-year-old shapes as a valuable inclusion against the Crows at the MCG on Saturday, but fellow on-baller Tom Mitchell has been ruled out for a third straight week with plantar fasciitis.

"Jordy got through training well," McRae said.

"He's got a spring in his step, he looked like he's got some power back in his running and he'll be available.

"Tom won't play. He's got that foot issue that's still just lingering around."

After a 0-3 start to their premiership defence, Collingwood have won four and drawn one of their past five matches and surged into the top eight despite their attack being decimated by injuries.

Jamie Elliott (vascular) is sidelined indefinitely and Dan McStay (knee) is out for the season, while Brody Mihocek (hamstring) and Beau McCreery (concussion) are both at least another week away.

Versatile veteran Jeremy Howe started forward to fill the void in last week's win over West Coast, but was subbed out by quarter-time with an adductor strain.

Small forward Lachie Schultz will add some attacking firepower against Adelaide when he makes an immediate return after serving a one-match striking ban.

"Lachie's trained exceptionally well, and there's something to be said about missing a game," McRae said.

"You get to work and make amends for maybe what it was (getting suspended) and then someone plays really well in your position, it puts a bit of pressure on."

Collingwood have averaged 99 points a game over the past month, with lesser lights Finlay Macrae, Reef McInnes and debutant Joe Richards stepping up in attack last week.

"What we're doing right now is we're finding a way to score," McRae said.

"We're scoring nearly every second time we go inside 50, which is a high percentage.

"So it's not necessarily the size of the person, it's the person that plays the role there."

As well as Howe, Collingwood lost Jack Bytel (concussion) and Harvey Harrison (ankle) to injuries during the win over West Coast.

But Harrison trained on Thursday to prove his fitness and retained his spot in the side to face Adelaide.

The Crows have dropped top-10 draft pick Dan Curtin, who was subbed out of his first two games at AFL level, and lost defender Josh Worrell to a broken forearm.

Will Hamill and Lachlan Murphy have been recalled.