Brisbane Lions Head of Medial Peter Blanch says Cedric Cox should recover from an ankle injury in time for Saturday’s Q-Clash.

Cox rolled his ankle just before half time in the Lions’ Round 20 loss to the Western Bulldogs and did not return for the rest of the match. But the midfielder has made a speedy recovery in training this week.

“Cedric gave his ankle a bit of a tweak. He’s back running. Cedric’s likely to be able to play this weekend,” Blanch said.

Meanwhile, Alex Witherden will likely miss Saturday’s match against the Gold Coast Suns after injuring his hamstring. 

Witherden came off in the last few minutes of the Bulldogs game, with medical staff initially thinking he had cramped, but MRI scans confirmed he had a small tear in his hamstring.

“He’s going well but probably unlikely this week but we’ll see how we go,” Blach said.

In positive news, halfback Darcy Gardiner has recovered from a nasty fall while reaching for a mark in Saturday’s game.

“Darcy had a fairly spectacular fall…He didn’t show signs of getting knocked out. We took him off and we did all the concussion testing and he passed all those things. He’s passed everything so far and he’s back training fully.”

Defender Sam Mayes continues to work on mending his foot and is a good chance of being eligible for selection this weekend.

“Sam’s started back running this week. Our aim is to have him available this week,” he said.

LIONS HEALTH CENTRE: INJURY LIST

While NEAFL player Marco Paparone’s niggling hamstring injury has reared its ugly head once more. The forward could be sidelined for some weeks.

“Marco’s had a long battle with hamstring tendon pain over the last couple of years… It’s just caught up with him a little bit in the last few weeks. We’re still trying to get Marco back to play some finals this year,” Blanch said.