Lance Franklin has been ruled out of Friday night’s clash with Collingwood as the full-forward continues to battle a lingering back strain.

Franklin was a possibility after missing last weekend’s clash against Geelong but has failed to train at all in the lead up to the Round 20 blockbuster at the SCG.

Club doctors made the call after the Swans were put through their paces at the group’s final training session on Wednesday.

General Manager of Football, Tom Harley, told SwansTV Franklin is as frustrated as anyone about the ongoing issue.

“If there’s one thing I know about Lance is that he’s a competitor,” Harley said, for the HCF Injury Update.

“We were hopeful that Lance would get up this week but he has not been able to get over the appropriate hurdles so he will have another week on the sidelines."

Harley was encouraged after seeing Gary Rohan, Mike Pyke and Ben McGlynn train fully on Wednesday and remains hopeful all three will be available for selection when the team is finalised on Thursday.

“Gary looked good today, he has had a consderable amount of time out with a hamstring, but he got through training which is a tick and we will asses him tomorrow morning," Harley said.

“We can't make an early call on Mike but we will assess tomorrow morning to make a call on him for when the team comes out on Thursday night."

Rohan has been dealing with a hamstring tear suffered against Port in Round 14 while McGlynn and Pyke have been battling respective hamstring and knee problems which has forced the duo to endure an interrupted month of football.

Harley admits the match committee is still tossing up whether to throw Rohan back into the senior fold straight away or nurse him through the NEAFL given the 24-year-old’s history with soft tissue injuries.

Rohan’s inclusion would be a massive boost to the Swans’ forward line, as would McGlynn, while Pyke’s addition would take the load off second-year ruck Toby Nankvervis who was subbed out in the third quarter of last weekend’s loss to Geelong.

In other injury news, Craig Bird is still a week away from a return after dealing with a calf issue which has flared up ever since the Swans’ clash with Hawthorn four weeks ago.

Sam Naismith (groin) and Jordan Foote (hip) remain on the short-term list while in more positive news, first-year recruit Lewis Melican makes a long awaited return to playing after recurring groin soreness which has kept the key defender on the sidelines for more than three months.