Callum Ah Chee and Marcus Adams are no certainties to return this week for the Brisbane Lions

While Carlton’s Patrick Cripps is free to play despite his hit on Brisbane’s Callum Ah Chee, the Lions player could miss a second successive game.

Callum Ah Chee could miss another game with concussion. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Carlton star Patrick Cripps escaped a two-game ban for his hit on Callum Ah Chee, but the versatile Brisbane Lion could miss a second successive match from the concussion he suffered from the blow.

Under the AFL’s 12-day stand-down protocols, Ah Chee and fellow concussion victim Marcus Adams are available for selection for Friday night’s Gabba blockbuster between the Lions and Melbourne.

However, Ah Chee did little at training on Tuesday, while Adams took no part in the session.

Meanwhile Cripps, who was initially banned for two matches for his knock to the head of Ah Chee less than two weeks ago, had his suspension overturned after a successful Carlton appeal, played last Saturday against the Demons and is set to line up again on Sunday when the Blues meet Collingwood in a match likely to decide his team’s top-eight fate.

The Lions’ top-four hopes go on the line on Friday night, with Brisbane skipper Dayne Zorko hopeful, rather than confident, that Ah Chee and Adams will be fit to play.

“We’ll give them every opportunity to be right,” Zorko said.

“No doubt about it, they deserve their spot in the side and have played some great football for us this season, so we’ll give them right up to the last minute.”

Brisbane Lions defender Marcus Adams remains in doubt. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

Perhaps surprisingly, Zorko attempted to play down the significance of Friday night’s clash, which will share the spotlight with the NRL game between the Broncos and the Melbourne Storm being played at the same time across the river at Suncorp Stadium.

“We’ve still got to play finals. I don’t want to undersell the game, but we need to continue to build on our season as to what our best football looks like.

“You guys will keep building it up from the outside which is great, but we won’t read too much into that.

“Obviously, it’s great for the city that there are two Brisbane teams that are probably going to play finals and how good’s that? It hasn’t happened for a long time, so that’s awesome, but honestly, for us, it’s about playing a good four-quarter game. It’s as simple as that as clichéd as it might sound.

“We haven’t done enough this season. We’ve been in games for a number of quarters. We’ve played some great quarters, we’ve played some not so great quarters, so we need to find the balance between our best and worst football.

“We need to shorten that gap as quickly as possible. This weekend’s another chance for that.”

With the Lions set to pay finals football for a fourth successive season, Zorko said his team had the necessary “belief” needed to have any chance of winning the premiership.

“We’ve been up the top half a lot of the last four years in a row which only Geelong has been able to do, so the belief’s definitely there,” he said.

“We understand that we need to get it done in big games, but we’ll build towards that, we’re working towards that, (and) we’re putting mechanisms in place to overcome adversity and whatever strikes us throughout games.

“Everything just seems to be coming together. The boys are hitting good form at the right time of the season.”