Headland's persistent calf injury has kept him out since the opening round of the season but he was put through his paces during a vicious one-on-one session on Tuesday afternoon.
The brilliant but injury-plagued midfielder has been named as an emergency for the side that will take on Hawthorn on Friday night, but Harvey said there could be a late change.
"I highly regard Des as a player and I think he's been overlooked from us playing over the last 18 months," Harvey said from Fremantle Oval on Thursday.
"If it's not this week it'll certainly be next week, but don't discount him."
The versatile Kepler Bradley and midfielder Andrew Foster join Headland on standby.
Greg Broughton replaced last week's debutant Luke Pratt as the only change to the side that beat Carlton by eight points on the Gold Coast.
Harvey said the six-day turnaround after travelling to Queensland had forced the first of possibly two changes.
"We've got a terribly young group that's coming back from a long trip. They've got to regroup and try and challenge a side that is last year's premiers," he said.
Travel aside, Fremantle enters the prime-time clash with all the momentum after three straight wins and Harvey said he was hoping to utilise it against a wounded opponent.
And with the Hawks staring at a 3-5 record if they lose, the coach said he sensed they were putting a lot of stock in the Friday night fixture.
"The way the inner sanctum is just subtly letting out things or talking about things to the media, you can see that they're seeing this game as a big pointer towards what they do throughout the course of the year," Harvey said.
"A little bit of momentum that we've got and the fact that they haven't got a lot of momentum at this particular stage – that might be something that we might be able to prey on throughout the course of game."
Harvey named Luke McPharlin and Chris Tarrant as likely match-ups for star Hawthorn pair Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead, while captain Matthew Pavlich would continue to plug holes in the midfield.
The coach was joined on Thursday by Hawthorn goalkicking legend Peter Hudson, now business development manager with health insurer MBF, to present the MBF Bravery Awards.
The awards, hosted by the South Metropolitan Area Health Service, MBF and the Fremantle Football Club, are now in their 15th year and recognise the bravery, strength and determination of those that pass through the SMAHS hospitals.
THE TEAM
B: Roger Hayden (43), Chris Tarrant (20), Antoni Grover (14)
HB: Nic Suban (8), Luke McPharlin (18), Steven Dodd (25)
C: Stephen Hill (32), Paul Hasleby (4), Garrick Ibbotson (5)
HF: Paul Duffield (41), Michael Johnson (37), Clayton Hinkley (19)
F: Brett Peake (7), Matthew Pavlich (29), Dean Solomon (6)
Ruck: Aaron Sandilands (31), Byron Schammer (3), David Mundy (16)
I/C: Ryan Murphy (28), Matthew de Boer (40), Greg Broughton (48), Scott Thornton (22)
Emg: Des Headland (11), Andrew Foster (21), Kepler Bradley (26)
In: Broughton
Out: Luke Pratt (13), omitted
FORECAST (Perth)
Friday – fine. Light to moderate E/NE winds tending S/SW'ly during the afternoon.
Min 7 – Max 25
BROADCAST DETAILS
TV
Channel 7 – two-hour delay into Perth, 8.30pm broadcast
**check local guides**
Radio
LIVE on 6PR and ABC
**check local guides**
