Max Gawn and Neville Jetta are set to play for Melbourne but Nathan Jones must wait another week for his AFL return.

The Dees will look to cement their spot in the top eight when they take on 17th-placed North Melbourne on Saturday.

They will be buoyed by the inclusion of both Gawn and Jetta after they proved their fitness at training on Thursday.

Star ruckman Gawn rolled his ankle during the Dees’ win over Port Adelaide, while half-back flanker Jetta limped from the training track on Tuesday after accidentally stepping on a stray football.

Coach Simon Goodwin has confirmed the duo will travel to Hobart but said the Dees would be more conservative with co-captain Jones, who has missed the past five weeks with a quad injury.

“We just need to be really cautious with these quad tendons,” Goodwin said on Thursday.

“He potentially could play this week but we wanted to give him another full week of training and make sure that he is 100 per cent.

“There is a slight risk of recurrence with those types of injuries but he’ll be ready to go next week.”

The Demons look a much stronger side on paper than the rebuilding Roos but history suggests they won’t be pushovers.

North have won a remarkable 16 straight games against the Dees, and they also hold a 10-4 record at their Hobart fortress.

The windy conditions at Bellerive have caught out many teams, including ladder-leaders Adelaide who copped a 59-point drubbing from the Roos in round seven.

“They’ve played some really good footy down in Hobart,” Goodwin said.

“They’ve actually played some strong footy throughout the year. They’ve played in a lot of close games.

“We played in Hobart last year and understand the difficulties of the ground. It is a unique ground to play at.

“We’ll get down there on Friday and have a look around and make sure we’re well-prepared for some of those things in Hobart.”