



ALASTAIR Clarkson has been cleared to return to his position as Hawthorn's senior coach, and he will take back the reins from stand-in coach Brendan Bolton on Monday afternoon.





Clarkson was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome at the end of May and temporarily stepped down from his position.





He had returned to work in a reduced capacity in recent weeks, and he travelled to Brisbane over the weekend to watch the Hawks' next opponent, North Melbourne.





The two-time premiership coach saw a specialist on Monday morning and was given the OK to resume his role as senior coach.





"In line with medical advice, Alastair has been involved around the club over the past couple of weeks in a minor capacity while undertaking an active recovery," Hawthorn chief executive Stuart Fox said.





"With endorsement from his doctors, Alastair will return to regular full-time coaching duties from today.





"We're really pleased Alastair is healthy and ready to return to work as the team embarks on the second half of the 2014 season.





"We have been overwhelmed with the messages we've received from our members and fans wishing Alastair well and we thank everyone for their support."





In Clarkson's absence, Bolton led the club to five wins from five games.





"The way our coaching team, playing group and football department staff have pulled together under Brendon Bolton's leadership during Alastair's absence has been outstanding," Fox said.





"It is a credit to our people that this period has been managed so professionally and seamlessly, which has been a team effort from all involved."





Bolton and the other assistant coaches will now return to their regular duties.





Meanwhile, the Hawks have confirmed speedster Cyril Rioli will miss the next 8-10 weeks with a left hamstring tendon injury.





The club is baffled by the exact cause of the 24-year-old's recurrent hamstring injuries of which he has suffered three in the past 12 months.





Football manager Chris Fagan said Rioli would be given every chance to play again this season and confirmed the club had no qualms about recalling the star Hawk in a final.





"It'd be fair to say there's no cut off point for Cyril," he said.





"Particularly if he plays as a deep forward which he can easily do. The way they rehab the guys these days, they're very, very fit when they come back to play, so there won't be any issue there.





"The 8-10 week call is probably a conservative call, but at the same time we'll give Cyril as much time as he needs to get his hamstring right so he can return to play at a really high level."





While the Hawks have lost a soldier, they will likely regain former skipper Sam Mitchell for Friday night's game against the Roos.





The midfielder will have a surveillance scan this week on the hamstring tendon he injured in round seven against St Kilda before being given the all-clear to play.





"If you go on his training form, you'd say he's a fair chance to play this week," Fagan said.





Key defender Josh Gibson is also close to a return from a torn pectoral tendon after resuming ball work last week.





The premiership Hawk is set to return for the all-important game against the Swans at the MCG after the bye.



