TOM De Koning will be available for selection this weekend after overcoming an ankle injury.

De Koning sustained a slight ankle sprain in training during the build-up to Round 2, but the young ruckman has now fully recovered.

Director of High Performance Andrew Russell said De Koning would be available this Saturday in a boost “for both him and the group”.

“Tommy’s ankle has settled really well. He’ll do skills today, he’ll do skills on Thursday and we expect him to play this week,” Russell said.

“He’s available for selection. If he doesn’t get selected, he’ll play in the reserves game against Geelong.”

The Blues were unlikely to be bolstered by the inclusion of Zac Fisher, however, with the 22-year-old building on his conditioning after a syndesmosis injury from Round 1.

Russell said Carlton would ensure that Fisher was in a position to perform when he is eligible for selection.

“He lost a lot of conditioning because he basically couldn’t run for seven weeks. There’s no magic when you recondition these guys: you need to do the work,” he said.

“He’s getting better, he’s back into skills training and going well.

“He probably won’t play this week, he’s a good chance to play the week after.”'

Russell also said that midfielder Paddy Dow was “a few weeks away” after experiencing knee soreness at the back-end of the COVID break.

“It hasn’t settled as we thought it would: we thought it was going to be a very low level issue,” he said.

“He hasn’t been able to get back into skills yet. He’s running, he’s training hard.

“We’re trying a couple of different things this week that helps him turn the corner.”