The return of Jy Simpkin and Hugh Greenwood won't prevent North Melbourne exposing their emerging midfielders against the Western Bulldogs' battle-hardened on-ball division.
Co-captain Simpkin and tough nut Greenwood are both back after a week under concussion protocols to bolster a Kangaroos side seeking to end its 11-match losing streak on Sunday at Marvel Stadium.
But caretaker coach Brett Ratten is every bit as excited to see the likes of Will Phillips, George Wardlaw, Harry Sheezel, Eddie Ford and Tom Powell growing through experience against some of the competition's best ball-winners.
"We want to find out about our younger players and we want to expose them to some challenging situations," Ratten said.
"This week with Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore, Jack Macrae and Adam Treloar - they're a star-studded midfield.
"For our boys to go against them is great learnings for them and that's going to help them for their career."
North Melbourne are winless in four matches since Ratten took the reins from Alastair Clarkson, who stepped away on personal leave last month, but have been more competitive than what they showed in previous weeks.
Ratten said the benefit of a drought-breaking win would be "huge" for his developing side but can't put a finger on when it will come.
"We've been inconsistent but I think we've found out a lot about ourselves and our group and where we want to go to," Ratten said.
"We haven't seen the wins ... but we know where we're going and there's a lot of clarity around that with roles and what our KPIs are and what we're trying to do as a team.
"Everybody can see it and now we're starting to see the benefits of it with some consistent performances, but not four quarters. That's what we need."
The Bulldogs (7-6) are clinging to eighth spot despite three straight losses and have dropped Josh Bruce, James O'Donnell and Arthur Jones for the North Melbourne clash.
Tim O'Brien and Mitch Hannan are back, while last week's substitute Oskar Baker returns to the starting 22.