Collingwood midfielder Luke Ball confident Magpies can bounce back Collingwood midfielder Luke Ball will make his AFL comeback against Geelong on Saturday night. COLLINGWOOD midfielder Luke Ball has pointed to the Magpies' pride and durability ahead of two blockbusters that could define their season. The Magpies are teetering with a 4-3 record, a host of injuries and tough matches against unbeaten Geelong on Saturday night and then premiers Sydney next Friday. Ball will ease their personnel woes when he finally returns from more than a year out with a knee reconstruction and hamstring injuries. "This is my fourth year at this club and traditionally it has been pretty good when it's had its fair share of challenges," he said. We're facing a few at the moment, but you look across the competition and most sides are. No Gibbs, but Cotchin's back There's no better couple of weeks to test ourselves than against two of the best teams of the competition. While Ball expects Collingwood to bounce back, he has no doubt the criticism they are receiving is justified. "We've played some good footy at times and we've played some pretty ordinary footy," he said. That would lean towards words like 'inconsistent' being thrown out and that's fair enough. You probably don't want to be playing your best footy at round seven, but we know we have a fair bit of work to do and it's got to start tomorrow night against the hottest team in the competition. Ball leads four changes for the Magpies, with Jordan Russell, Jarrod Witts and Marley Williams all returning. Heath Shaw is suspended and Dale Thomas is again sidelined with an ankle injury. "He (Thomas) is very frustrated because he's back on the grinder and all those really 'fun' things you get to do when you're not allowed to do anything with your legs," Ball said. It's a big blow, because he worked really hard to get back from his first setback. I know this one is not quite as bad. Ball said his recurring hamstring injury, not the reconstructed knee, had delayed his return. He said the knee was right after about eight months and it is possibly now the stronger of the two. After two strong VFL outings, Ball is raring for his comeback. "I see it in a way as almost a bit of a restart," he said. So I can just go out there and play, obviously within the parameters of the team. Possibly expectations are a little bit lower - I can just go out there and enjoy it.