CARLTON veteran Marc Murphy will be pushing for a return for the Round 13 clash with the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.

The on-field leader has missed the last three rounds after fracturing his ribs in a collision during Carlton trip to Greater Western Sydney.

Director of High Performance Andrew Russell was pleased to report the midfielder is progressing well in his recovery.

“‘Murph’ has had a really good week, a really strong training week on the track,” Russell said.

“He’ll be a test on Thursday, but at this stage he’s looking like a really strong chance to play this week which is good news.”

Blues supporters will have to wait a little while longer before they see resilient defender Liam Jones back out on the park.

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Having missed the last five weeks through concussion, Jones has recently made a return to full training with the Blues adopting a wait-and-see approach towards his recovery.

“'Jonesy' is back in full training, which is really good news,” he said.

“He’s feeling great. He won’t be available this week, but over the next week or two we should have some more confirmation on when we expect him back to play.”

The coming weeks should also mark the debut of a fresh face in Navy Blue, with Josh Deluca set to make his return from a hamstring strain following the bye round.

The mid-season rookie arrived at Carlton two weeks ago with the pre-existing injury, but fans could get a first glance of what he can produce over the coming weeks.

“Josh came to the club with a low-grade hamstring strain the week before we recruited him,” he said.

“He’s actually in full training. We’re not going to play him this week, but you will see him after the bye when he’s done a little bit of top-up conditioning work.”

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