Back injury forces Magpie Elliott out of Eagles clash

"We tried to give Jamie every chance to play. It's why we named him in the squad," coach Craig McRae said. 

"He woke up this morning, he's got a bit of a sore back. It didn't settle enough to get him out there. 

"We'll just see how that goes from here."

The Magpies were already without key forwards Dan McStay (knee) and Brody Mihocek (hamstring) plus speedster Beau McCreery and goal-kicking midfielder Jordan De Goey (groin).

Howe broke through as a forward at Melbourne and, despite establishing himself as one of the AFL's top intercept defenders, has remained a handy option in attack.

"Jeremy will play forward. We don't have a cast of thousands lined up to play as key forwards for us," McRae said.

"His experience will be something we really want to lean into and he's got a lot of class as a forward, he's got a history there, he's a good mover and we're hoping he can play a really good role for us.

"(We'll) let Howie do his thing, play to his strengths, as we want all our forwards to express themselves in different ways.

"It'll be a different forward-line mix - you take out three or four of your starting forward line from last week, it's a different mix, but we'll move the ball the same. It's just a matter of playing a role within that."

De Goey remains sidelined as the Magpies attempt to get to the bottom of his groin issue, with concerns over a potential case of the debilitating condition osteitis pubis (OP).

Asked if Collingwood had learned more about De Goey's situation, McRae said: "Yeah, somewhat.

"That's a scary word, OP, but it's leading towards something if we don't manage it, it could get as bad as that. 

"It's not that now, but (we) grab things certainly here and deload a little bit and then see where we go, and early signs are that's progressed towards that."

McRae also confirmed fringe midfielder Finlay Macrae would return and start the game.