Mills, Amartey close on return as Swans eye Blue scalps

Sydney are hopeful Callum Mills and Joel Amartey will prove their fitness and play against Carlton.

Mills and Amartey shape as valuable inclusions against the Blues (4-5) at the SCG on Friday night as the Swans (3-6) look to return to the AFL winners' circles.

Swans skipper Mills has not played a game this year after suffering a tear in his plantar fascia in the pre-season.

He was originally slated to return in round three, but his recovery was slower than expected, having been listed as a week-to-week proposition before being named as a test against Carlton.

Sydney coach Dean Cox says Mills should be poised to make a return to football, either in the AFL or reserves, if he completes training on Wednesday.

Mills had slotted straight back into the senior side despite spending eight months last year on the sidelines following shoulder and calf injuries.

"With Callum, we've always said we'll sit down with him following each session about what the next one looks like," Cox said on Wednesday.

"This is the last one he needs to get through before he decides to play a game, so hopefully that can happen.

"I don't like getting too far ahead before players actually tick off what they need to."

Amartey has been sorely missed up forward after straining his hamstring in the second quarter of their Gather Round loss to Collingwood.

The key forward had kicked nine majors from five games before his injury.

"Joel's a little bit different (from Callum). He's missed four weeks with a hamstring injury," Cox said.

"He's trained for a week and a bit. We expect if he can get through training today that he'll be available."

Cox could also call on Taylor Adams, who made his return from a hamstring injury in the reserves side last round.

The midfielder had 14 disposals and three clearances in their VFL loss to Essendon.

"One thing you find with the VFL, they probably didn't perform at the level that we needed them to as a team and a collective, so Taylor was a part of that," Cox said.

"We need to make sure that he gets back to training fully, but speaking to him after the game, he was good to get through the first one and is now really confident in his body that he's available for selection.

"That's one thing we'll have to work out, what it does look like."