LOOKS were deceiving at Collingwood’s main training session on Wednesday.

Scott Pendlebury’s left ankle appeared to cause him grief as he jogged laps, completed run-throughs and kicked with Steele Sidebottom before leaving the track after just 20 minutes.

But coach Nathan Buckley said his captain’s cameo was “quite encouraging” ahead of Friday night’s crunch match against St Kilda at the MCG.

“He moved pretty well,” Buckley said after the 90-minute tune-up at Olympic Park.

“He’s in the mix and he stayed in the mix because of what he did today.”

SUPERCOACH: ULTIMATE TRADE GUIDE

Pendlebury, 27, had a scan on Monday but was spotted walking freely after training and the Magpies are quietly confident he and Taylor Adams (foot) will prove their fitness.

Adams sported a moon boot at training but Buckley said his status would only be known after Thursday’s light session.

The Magpies must replace Ben Sinclair (hamstring) and their onball stocks are again running thin following blows to Sidebottom (broken thumb), Levi Greenwood (fractured ankle) and Clinton Young (hamstring).

Asked what Pendlebury proved in his brief stint on the track, Buckley said: “Straight-line (running), a bit of weight bearing, he kicked … all of those things you do when you play footy.

“It’s a six-day break, he knows his body really well, he’s a professional with the way he goes about it, if he puts his hand up and ticks a few boxes from our side of things then he’ll play,” Buckley said.

“He won’t play if he’s not right.”

Pies warm up for Saints media_camera Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury attends to strapping on his injured ankle. Picture: Wayne Ludbey 1 of 9 media_camera Taylor Adams sports a moonboot. Picture: Wayne Ludbey 2 of 9 media_camera Father-son recruit Darcy Moore and defender Ben Reid in action. Picture: Wayne Ludbey 3 of 9 media_camera Pies Coach Nathan Buckley directs young defender Jack Frost. Picture: Wayne Ludbey 4 of 9 nav_small_close Want to see more?( 5 more photos in collection )Continue to full gallery nav_small_left nav_small_right

Buckley confirmed top-10 draft picks Nathan Freeman and Darcy Moore were chances to make their debuts.

Speedster Freeman was sidelined with a nasty hamstring injury last year while Buckley said father-son pick Moore was an instant standout after arriving in last year’s draft.

Buckley praised 200cm Moore’s athleticism and defensive ability and said his rebound was improving.

Moore lined up on spearhead Travis Cloke in Wednesday’s match simulation.

Buckley gave a tick to his players’ intensity in last week’s loss to Adelaide, but lashed their ball use.

Top 10 picks Nathan Freeman and Darcy Moore chances to debut for Collingwood on Friday night. Ben Reid likely to spend one more in the VFL. — Sam Landsberger (@SamLandsberger) April 15, 2015

The Magpies ranked last for kicking efficiency last season but they added a skills acquisition coach over summer and Buckley said he had reshaped their training to further challenge decision-making and execution, adamant it would pay dividends.

“We won contested ball … but we just butchered it. We didn’t use it well enough, we didn’t take our chances when we had it and Adelaide did the opposite,” he said.

“We need to use the ball better if we want to be a more dangerous football side and play better footy.

“Our kicking efficiency was 70 per cent in the last quarter, it was 51 per cent in the first.

“(But) it’s there, it’ll come and we’ve got absolute faith that it will as soon as Friday night.”

Injury-prone defender Ben Reid played VFL on Saturday and Buckley said he needed at least another two weeks at the lower level.