JOEL Selwood is being nursed through a lighter week on the track in a bid to ease the load on his battered body.

The Geelong skipper played the most of last week’s match against Essendon under duress after suffering a heavy knock to his hamstring in the first quarter.

He missed this morning’s open training session at Simonds Stadium but will still play against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday.

media_camera Joel Selwood tackled around the neck by Courtenay Dempsey.

Harry Taylor and Steven Motlop, who both suffered injury scares against the Bombers, were both training this morning and are expected to be fit.

“He went into the game a little bit sore,” Geelong coach Chris Scott said.

“Not too much worse than in previous week, but when it rains it pours. He got a knock really early to his hamstring, which made him even sorer.

“He was still a really influential player, I thought, but he’ll be better this week — he’s already better this week than he was at the same stage last week, so I don’t think there’ll be any problems there.”

Scott admitted Steve Johnson’s form was down, but conceded the mercurial midfielder was a victim of his own lofty standards.

FLEXIBILITY KEEPS BLICAVS ON TOES

He backed his star playmaker to return to his best form when the whips are cracking leading into finals.

The Cats again lapsed after half time last week, allowing Essendon to kick five unanswered goals to hit the front in the final quarter.

It continued a worrying trend for the Cats, who have dropped off in matches against Port Adelaide, Richmond, Fremantle, Sydney, Carlton, Gold Coast and now the Bombers.

Their second halves have been among the worst in the competition since Round 5 and Scott acknowledged the Cats needed to sharpen up, but said fitness was not the issue.