COLLINGWOOD skipper Nick Maxwell believes Andrew Krakouer will have to earn his way back into the Magpies team via the VFL.

Krakouer returned to Collingwood training on Tuesday after a week away from the club due to personal issues.

The 30-year-old arrived at the Westpac Centre around 10am, quashing speculation his absence for may have been indefinite.

"He's fine, back at training today," Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell told Melbourne radio station SEN.

"He's got to train all week and we'll see where he's at."

But Maxwell admitted the small forward will find it difficult to regain his spot immediately.

"(It's) probably tough for him to come back given the performance of the guys who were in there and given he missed a whole week of training, but I'm not on match committee so I'll leave that to them," he said.

There had been confusion about whether Krakouer was going to play in Collingwood's VFL team, but he subsequently missed the match.

The Pies skipper explained Krakouer was listed as omitted to still give him the option of playing in the second-tier competition.

The club has been unwilling to publicly discuss the nature of Krakouer's personal issues, but has dismissed suggestions he had returned to his home state of Western Australia.

"He basically just had a personal week, he just had some issues to deal with," Maxwell said.

Coach Nathan Buckley said after Monday's win over Melbourne he expected Krakouer to be available for selection to take on the Western Bulldogs in Sunday's twilight game at Etihad Stadium.

Matt Thompson is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @MattThompsonAFL