BRISBANE Lions star utility Jared Brennan will take his place in the side to face North Melbourne after proving his fitness on Friday afternoon.

Brennan was a surprise inclusion for the Lions on Thursday night, having missed just three games with a serious ankle injury that was initially expected to sideline him for at least six weeks.

"We weren't really anticipating having him until next week," coach Michael Voss said.

"But Monday he had a run around and I found out Tuesday from the medicos that he was tracking along quite nicely.

"We trained him yesterday and he got through the session, so he should be right to go."

Voss reported key forwards Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola were approaching 100 per cent fitness after battling groin soreness.

However, they were restricted to stationary work during the 45-minute session at Albert Park Cricket Ground.

"Browny did a training session yesterday and the big fella doesn't normally back up [for another session] so I'd be pretty surprised if he's running around today," Voss said.

"He's done everything he's needed to do to get himself right and he's certainly showing really good improvement.

"They're certainly moving around a lot better now."

The Lions got their season back on track with a thrilling win over Collingwood last week to snap a five-game losing streak, but Voss said that wasn't enough evidence to suggest their season was again heading in the right direction.

"As soon as you ever feel like that, that's when you get bit in the butt in this game," he said.

"This competition is very, very close and it's about hanging in there and really being able to celebrate your wins but certainly turn your mind very quickly to next week's opposition.

"For us it's important because it's probably the first time I can remember that we haven't made at least two or three changes, so your side does become a little more settled.

"But with that comes responsibility and an expectation that we can back up what we did last week."

First-year coach Brad Scott will be sitting in the opposing box trying to plot the Lions' downfall, but Voss said there was no personal rivalry with his good mate.

With three heavy losses in the past month and without key big man Drew Petrie once again, the Kangaroos are considered the underdogs by bookmakers, but not by Voss.

"If I know Brad he's certainly got a dogged determination about him and he would have hammered into them the importance of being able to play team roles, being professional athletes and preparing for the next week," he said.

"He certainly would have put a fair bit of an onus on them to turn that around and find out a bit about his group.

"We can only expect their best and we've got to ensure that we look after our own backyard."