Collingwood star Taylor Adams will have a better idea next week of when he will return to the AFL.

The Magpies’ best player in last year’s grand final loss is recovering from finger surgery and will definitely miss their opening two games.

The onballer expects to be back by round five, but remains unsure exactly when.

“I actually don’t have much of an update – next week is a big week,” Adams said.

“I get some more feedback from the surgeon next week about how it’s progressing.

“At this stage, it’s really, really promising – I’ve got a lot of movement in it.

“The only thing is it takes time for the bone to knit so it’s going to be hard for me to rush back.”

While it is frustrating to miss the start of the season, particularly for a finger injury, Adams said it was a significant problem.

“People ask how long I’m out for and I say six weeks and they reply ‘what, it’s just a finger’,” he said.

“But I’ve seen photos of what it was like during surgery and it’s pretty gruesome.”

In the meantime, Adams said the Collingwood fitness staff are “flogging” him to make sure he is ready to return when the finger has healed.

Midfield strength will be one of Collingwood’s attributes this season and Adams is anxious to return as quickly as possible.

In the wake of last year’s grand final loss, the Magpies have enjoyed a solid pre-season.

“I get a bit of FOMO – I certainly feel like I’m missing out on all the fun,” Adams said ahead of Friday night’s round-one clash with Geelong.

“You hear people say ‘it’s been a perfect pre-season’ – ours hasn’t, obviously we’ve had injuries and setbacks, but it’s been fun and really enjoyable.

“I don’t know if we’ve done it perfectly, but I’m pretty confident we’ve done a good job of moving on from the grand final.

“I look forward to seeing how the boys react on Friday night.”