Cats captain on track to face Richmond

Fearless Geelong captain Joel Selwood will take his bid to play in Friday's qualifying final with Richmond right to the wire.

A serious ankle injury has kept the six-time All Australian out of the Cats last three matches of the season, and threatens his participation in the finals.

But if signs from Saturday's training session are anything to go by, Geelong's skipper will be leading out his team next weekend.

The six-time All Australian showed progress from his syndesmosis concern, running and moving well in a separate training pack.

The AFL website reports he joined in with the main group for around 15 minutes.

He told reporters after training he was heading in the right direction to play in the blockbuster match.

"I'm going well, that's all I can really say. I'll let it continue to go this way and I'm more likely than unlikely," he said.

Selwood foreshadowed being included in the 22 on Thursday, giving the club as long as possible to make a call on his fitness.

"We'll wait right up to the moment and we'll see how I'm feeling ... I expect to be named and we'll go from there."

Selwood suffered the injury in the Cats' round 20 loss to Sydney.

If he plays against the Tigers, his spell will be just 35 days - including surgery.

Over 95,000 people are expected at the MCG for the first finals meeting between the two sides in 22 years.