Magpies coach Nathan Buckley says midfielder Scott Pendlebury is pushing hard to return against Fremantle at the MCG this Saturday,

Pendlebury has missed the Magpies' past two games since sustaining a cracked right tibia against Gold Coast in round 10.

Buckley told SEN radio the star midfielder was set to resume "a bit of football work".

He said Pendlebury would do everything he could to take the field against Freo but said the Magpies would wait until later in the week to make a decision.