Simon Black looks to have passed the final test in his recovery from pre-season knee surgery.

Black successfully completed his first full game with the Lions Reserves in Sydney last Sunday, after only playing limited minutes in his first two NEAFL outings.

Teammate Brent Staker also came through unscathed after playing the majority of the match, putting himself firmly in line for a potential senior call-up in the coming weeks.

“Blacky and Stakes are both coming along really well. Both completed full matches on the weekend against the Sydney twos,” Strength and Conditioning Coach Matt Hass told LIONS TV as part of the Bupa Recovery Report.

“They’re pushing hard now for senior selection. Both of them are looking really well and moving nicely around the field, so they shouldn’t be too far away.”

Senior Coach Michael Voss said last week that a decision on Black’s imminent return wouldn’t be made until the Brownlow Medallist played a full game with the reserves side.

The Club has taken a cautious approach with the 34-year-old to ensure he can play-out the remainder of 2013 with the senior team.

"We'd like to see him play a full game, and he hasn't quite done that yet," Voss said last week.

"We know how important he is to us and we'd love him in the football team, there's no question on that.

"We're pretty committed to getting 15, 16 quality games out of him for the rest of the season, so we just don't want to pull the trigger too early and if that means waiting another week, we will."

Black’s chances of a return against West Coast this Saturday are also helped by the fact that there are no NEAFL matches scheduled this weekend due to the State game.