HAWTHORN'S ruck stocks could be boosted by the return of Jonathon Ceglar ahead of finals, with the big man hoping to finally overcome a troublesome back injury after a month on the sidelines.

And the Hawks are certain to regain star midfielder Sam Mitchell (flu) and small forward Paul Puopolo (ankle) for Saturday's clash with Carlton.

Ceglar hasn't played at any level since August 8 and his back issue flared up in a new area at the weekend, keeping him out of Box Hill's VFL loss to Williamstown. 

• The injury list: Your club's sidelined players

"We were hopeful that 'Cegs' would've played on the weekend, but the back injury that he's had, it flared up in a different spot so we took a cautious approach to that," general manger of football operations Chris Fagan told the Hawks' website.

"I think he should be right to play this week. He's obviously got to get through the week of training with no further incident, but we'd be keen to have him out there."

Ceglar was a hard luck story from last year's Grand Final when he was dropped for Ben McEvoy.

History repeated in round 15 this season when the 204cm big man was axed for McEvoy. Ceglar has only played once since, in the round 19 triumph over West Coast.

Meanwhile, Mitchell and Puopolo are set for a final round tune-up against the Blues after missing the thumping win over the Brisbane Lions last Saturday.

"(Mitchell's) good, he just needed the weekend off. He got the flu on Thursday and didn't train," Fagan said.

"We were hopeful he'd be right for the game but didn't quite measure up, so he didn't make the trip down. But he's bouncing around today so we expect him to be keen to play. 

"(Puopolo's) been carrying that injury for a few weeks and we just thought we'd take the opportunity last week to ease his load a little bit, so he'll train this week and be playing on Saturday, I would've thought." 

The Hawks also took a cautious approach with Jed Anderson, leaving him out of the VFL due to hamstring soreness.

"He just had a little bit of hamstring soreness last week, so we took the precautionary approach of not playing him and, again, we're hopeful that he's going to be OK this week," Fagan said.

Hawthorn's injury list continues to dwindle, with premiership backman Matt Spangher making his long-awaited return from a second hamstring strain in the VFL last weekend.

"He got that game under his belt, he'll get another one this week at Box Hill and hopefully he's putting his hand up for selection come finals time," Fagan said.