Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says he will not be taking any risks with star ruckman Max Gawn ahead of a trip to Perth to play Fremantle on Sunday.

Gawn missed Saturday night’s victory over Essendon at the MCG with an ankle injury, but is now a chance to make an earlier-than-scheduled return to face the Dockers’ duo of Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson at the weekend.

It comes after the Demons entered the clash with the Bombers without a recognised ruckman, instead spinning forwards Harrison Petty and Jacob van Rooyen through the position, but winning the clearance count against Sam Draper.

Gawn is still in the mix to be named to face the Dockers when the team is released on Thursday, but Goodwin said they won’t be taking any chances.

“He’s working through his process incredibly well. Everyone that knows Max knows how dilligent he is,” he said.

“Today (Thursday) is an important day for that process and we will assess him post-today, but we certainly won’t take a risk.

“This isn’t the time of year to take a risk with any of our players, so we need to make sure he is 100 per cent ready to go and obviously today is a big step for where he’s at.

“He walks into the office every day and says ‘coach, I’ll be right’, but that’s the mentality he has. He’s the ultimate professional in that space.”

Goodwin refused to say whether or not Gawn was more unlikely than likely, but he also wouldn’t commit to going without a recognised ruckman again if Gawn didn’t make the trip.

Former Brisbane player Tom Fullarton is also an option for the Demons.

“We will have a look at that today,” Goodwin said.

“We are playing Jackson and Darcy — a different ruck combination — and obviously we still don’t know about Max at this point.

“We know what we are coming up against though, we have got two high-quality ruckman that we are dealing with.”

The Dockers are also waiting on Darcy to get through their main session at Cockburn on Thursday after he missed their defeat to Hawthorn with concussion.

The Demons coach lamented his team’s “uncompetitive” performance against the Dockers in Alice Springs last month and said Justin Longmuir’s side is a “high-quality” team through the midfield.

“We know the challenge they present around the ball, around stoppage and clearance, and their ability to use the ball incredibly well,” Goodwin said.

“They are well coached and they are well organised and they are a tough challenge and they are one of the better teams in the comp for a reason.”