THE BRISBANE Lions are expecting the very best from Andrew Swallow in the North Melbourne captain's long-awaited return from injury on Saturday.

Swallow has not played senior footy since rupturing his Achilles in round 18 last year, but after two games in the VFL is set to return at Etihad Stadium.

Although Swallow said he expected to take a month to return to his best, Lions coach Justin Leppitsch was buying none of it.

Leppitsch said he was preparing for the classy, hard-nosed 26-year-old to resume as if he hadn't missed a beat.

"Adam Goodes did OK with his first game or two back, didn't he?" he said.

"Sometimes first game back you're at your freshest, it's often as the grind hits you from a long-term injury (that you might struggle).

"We've got to treat it that he's going to play the same way as he did when he left the game 12 months ago, which is a pretty high standard."

Leppitsch said he would choose a player to go head-to-head with Swallow, and paid tribute to a Kangaroos midfield that also included Brent Harvey, Jack Ziebell, Ben Cunnington and Nick Dal Santon.

Of equal concern to Leppitsch was the Kangaroos' running game, which has been hit-and-miss so far in 2014.

"From their back half last year they were really dynamic and they probably haven't hit that form yet," he said.

"That doesn't mean that's not around the corner and that's the challenge for our players (to stop it).

"When you've got any team with a really strong midfield, (and) you've got Brent Harvey, you've got (Shaun) Atley with speed, all the options are there for them and we have to be good enough defensively."

"We go down there confident and bring in some pretty good form, even though we didn't get the win (last week). The boys are … ready for the challenge."

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