Daniel Rich, Matthew Leuenberger, Mitch Golby and Tom Rockliff aren’t the only players back from injury this weekend, with Matt Maguire (shin) and Patrick Wearden (face) also set for their on-field return.

Maguire and Wearden are both expected to line up for the Lions Reserves in Saturday afternoon’s NEAFL clash with Labrador on the Gold Coast.

Maguire hasn’t played a senior match since he was substituted out of the team’s Round 1 match against the Western Bulldogs with a leg complaint. 

He made a brief return with the Reserves last month, but lasted only until half time before suffering a similar impact injury.

Wearden, meanwhile, has spent the past two months recovering from a crude hit against the Gold Coast Reserves back in Round 4 which left him with facial fractures.

The second-year utility was in career-best form at the time, and will be keen to recapture that form in the second half of the season.

The injury inclusions, coupled with six omissions from the senior team, means that Reserves Coach Leigh Harding will have considerably more players at his disposal this weekend.

“I think we had 11 changes heading into our last match against the Gold Coast, and we’ll probably have around 10 again for this Saturday’s game,” Harding told lions.com.au.

“Patrick Wearden and Matt Maguire both got through training on Wednesday and should give us a boost.

“Patty’s probably been ready to go for a little bit, but we decided to wait until after the Bye to ensure he’d fully recovered. So I’m confident that he can get through a full game after an extended lay-off.”

The Lions Reserves find themselves in unfamiliar territory this season, having to bounce back after their first defeat at the hands of the Suns.

They face an injury-plagued Labrador side that currently sits second last on the NEAFL Northern Conference table with just one win from nine starts.

But Harding isn’t expecting any complacency from his side.

“We’ve had the week off so the boys are raring to go and will want to perform well,” Harding said.

“Labrador have had some bad luck with injuries to key players, but we can only worry about the way we want to play and hopefully get back on the winners’ list.”