Four-time AFL premiership coach Leigh Matthews would take some convincing before he risked Brent Guerra or Ben McGlynn in Saturday’s grand final.

Hawthorn’s Guerra and Sydney’s McGlynn are desperately trying to recover in time from hamstring injuries and return to their sides for the match.

Guerra suffered a serious hamstring injury in round 23, while McGlynn was in tears after his strain during the qualifying final win over Adelaide.

Normally, neither side would even consider recalling the players so soon after hamstring injuries.

But given it is the grand final, Guerra and McGlynn are being given every chance to show they can return.

They will have to train at full intensity on Tuesday and then back up on Thursday to have any chance of earning a recall.

Matthews, now an AFL commentator, told Channel Seven’s Game Day he would be “very, very nervous” about picking either player.

“The problem with that kind of injury, is the fitness test accurate?,” he said.

“Is it maybe with shoulders and upper bodies, but (it’s a) hamstring.”

Matthew famously put Nigel Lappin through a vigorous fitness test on his broken ribs before clearing him for the 2003 grand final.

Hawks football manager Mark Evans said Guerra had done everything right in his recovery, but now had to step up to match intensity.

“You would always rather know earlier in the week than later, but we do have two main training sessions,” Evans said.

“It would depend how he went in that first session as to whether we could declare him in or out from there, or whether you’d to wait and see how he’d recovered from that.

“If he is going to play, he’s going to have to lift the intensity from where he’s been at.

“He’s been building over the last three weeks into some good running, agility and light skills – he’d need to go through full intensity running, full intensity training, full skills … with no awareness and then pull up well out of that.”

In other injury news, Sydney’s All-Australian defender Ted Richards will play despite hurting his ankle in the Friday night preliminary final win over Collingwood.

Hawks captain Luke Hodge missed their preliminary final win over Adelaide with gastro, but he could be back at the club by Monday and is a near-certainty to play.

Teammates David Hale (head knock) and Xavier Ellis (cramp) should also be available.