Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury expects Jordan De Goey to line up in round one and has declared the dynamic match-winner is primed to take his game to a "new level".

De Goey is on the mend after a mid-foot sprain at training in February and has lifted his preparations over the past week. He missed the Magpies' two pre-season matches but Pendlebury said he expected the robust forward to face Geelong on Friday night and build on an outstanding 2018, one that began nervously when he had been banished to train with the VFL having been apprehended for driving over the legal limit.

Jordan De Goey. Credit:Joe Armao

"He is fine. I assume he will play in round one. The beauty of footy is that you have to go again, you have to back it up. You have got to do it again. That's what makes the good players good," Pendlebury said.

De Goey returned to the senior side in round four last year, having had a hamstring issue, and enjoyed career-best form, booting 48 goals in 21 matches while becoming the focal point of a forward line that had lost its prime movers through injury. He contributed 12 goals in the finals, including three in the losing grand final.