Geelong coach Chris Scott is confident Gary Rohan will be available to help fill the void left by suspended forward Tom Hawkins in Friday night’s AFL preliminary final against Richmond.

The Cats’ fears over Hawkins’ availability for the blockbuster MCG clash were confirmed on Monday night when his one-match ban for striking West Coast’s Will Schofield was upheld by the AFL tribunal.

Speedy forward Rohan missed the semi-final win over the Eagles with a knee injury suffered in the qualifying final loss to Collingwood.

But he pressed his claim for a return at training at GMHBA Stadium on Tuesday.

“”It looks to us like Gary Rohan will be available,” Scott said.

“I don’t think he’s a lock to play but we’ve got optimism … it’s progressing pretty well.”

Patrick Dangerfield didn’t appear for the warm-up of the training session but Scott stressed the superstar midfielder was not in any doubt to play as he completed an individual program.

Even if Rohan wins his fitness battle he’s not a like-for-like replacement for the powerful Hawkins, who has kicked 56 goals this season.

But then no one is.

“We haven’t got a Tom Hawkins replacement so we’ll be different, but different is not necessarily worse,” Scott said.

“… We virtually came to a position (on a revised forward line) on Saturday, so we’ve known for a while.

“The players know, it’s not a great mystery, we’ll be clear.

“I think that’s more important at this time of year rather than maybe even coming up with a better plan but allowing the uncertainty to fester throughout the week.”

Hawkins’ suspension was the ninth time he has run foul of the match-review process since the 2016 season.

The 256-game veteran has drawn criticism for letting his side down with the undisciplined act, but Scott isn’t about to join the pile on.

“He’s been a star for us over a long period of time, an experienced player, a great leader of the club, a great person who is bitterly disappointed,” the coach said.

“And I’ve got no interest in throwing salt into the wounds.

“It doesn’t mean we ignore the fact that he shouldn’t have done it.

“That’s clear to everyone and most clear to him.

“He’s probably paid a very heavy but appropriate price, so looking into the future we’ve got to do what we can to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

“But we never hang our players out to dry and we won’t.”