BRISBANE Lions coach Michael Voss has compared his team to 'ugly ducklings’, with his side being all but dismissed as a premiership threat by most pundits.

The Lions overcame a 30-point deficit in the final quarter to beat Carlton by seven points in their elimination final at the Gabba on Saturday night.

Two days on, Voss says the feeling inside the team is that they are the odd ones out.

“Five teams have been spoken about; I almost feel like the ugly duckling left in the competition,” Voss said.

“Everybody is talking about five (teams), and we’re the sixth.”

Voss says it’s a tag they’ve worn all year, and his players have responded by proving people wrong and advancing to their first finals series in five years.

“Maybe they’ve enjoyed the ugly duckling tag,” Voss said.

“I don’t know, maybe we’ve been that the whole year, but we certainly feel like that this week.”

Voss says St Kilda and Geelong are the only teams which deserve to be considered contenders for the flag.

“I think two (teams) have earned that right to be premiership contenders,” Voss said.

“At the moment, everyone else is just fighting to get that equal footing.”

Voss says the Lions team that takes to the field against the Bulldogs in Friday's semi-final at the MCG on Friday night could be their strongest side of the year.

Voss says the injured trio of Simon Black, Daniel Merrett and Daniel Bradshaw have all pulled up well after the elimination final.

He’s also optimistic that Josh Drummond will recover from a quad injury in time to play.

”I’m much more hopeful than what I was this time last week," Voss said of Drummond

"It will be a good bonus for us if he does come up."

Jed Adcock could also return after two months out of the side with a knee injury.

“Jed is certainly fit,” Voss said.

“He is likely to be a very good chance to be able to play. He has certainly trained, but whether that means he comes in direct for a final or not, we’ll make that determination later in the week.”

Joel MacDonald was left out of the side on Saturday night at the last minute because of an ongoing back complaint, but Voss believes the 24-year-old should be right to return to bolster the Lions' defensive stocks against the Bulldogs.

The only dilemma then facing the coach will be who to drop from a side that has displayed plenty of grit in winning its last three games against quality opposition in Port Adelaide, the Sydney Swans and Carlton.

“They’ve gone to war and they’ve been able to come out the other end victorious,” Voss said.

“That’s also a factor, because those players have gone out and done that. At this point in time, they’ve earned that right to be able to keep their spot.”