WHILE their season hangs by a weakening thread, Sydney midfielder Amon Buchanan says the players are doing everything they can to stay positive in the hope of turning around their stalled season in the next two weeks.

The Swans have struggled during the past two months to gain any traction in their hunt for the top four, and with just two matches remaining, they find themselves in sixth and needing to win at least once to assure themselves of a September spot.

However, as you would expect from a club that prides itself on an indomitable spirit, Buchanan said the playing group was aware of its shortcomings but was planning to stick true with one another ahead of Saturday night's crunch match with Collingwood at Telstra Dome.

"The message from the leadership group is, 'Let's stay positive, let's stay upbeat and let's go down there and have a real crack on Saturday night'. We've got a lot to play for now, so it's going to be a good challenge," Buchanan said before training yesterday.

"We've definitely dropped not only over the past month, but over the past couple of months, and I guess just the input from the whole team hasn't been there I suppose.

"We're a good team when everyone's contributing evenly, so I think we need more contributions from more players and that's what makes us a good team."

Having lost five straight against the Magpies, Buchanan said the secret might lie in looking at themselves more than worrying about the opposition, and also realising that a finals campaign could be sealed this weekend.

"We need to go down there and have a good win," he said. "We don't want to go down there, lose and have that added pressure next week, there's no doubt about that. We're going to be going down to Melbourne with all guns blazing.

"I think we've maybe got to not think about them this week.

"[We'll] do our homework on them, but then just think about us and do what we need to do to beat them.

"I don't think we have [challenged Collingwood] in the past because they've won five now, so we've struggled a bit with them, which makes it a big challenge to go there and turn up and have a good game."

The flying midfielder will be hoping to get another strong performance on the board this week, following up on his 21-possession effort against Geelong last Saturday night after a four-week suspension lay-off.

Buchanan said he's fit, hungry and ready to have a big impact from here on in.

"I'm feeling pretty fresh, I've had four weeks off and I was back out there on the weekend so it was good to be out there and running around again feeling fresh and fit," he said.

"I've been doing a bit of work on my fitness in the four weeks off and I felt good."

In more good injury news for the Swans, co-captain Leo Barry is all but certain to return to the starting line-up after missing the past four matches with a hamstring query. However, Michael O'Loughlin will not be rushed back from injury and is being aimed at a round-22 return.

"We've been scored against heavily lately and Leo is a great defender," Buchanan said.

"He's the general back there and we are missing him as a captain and we are missing him [as a defender].

"I think with Craig [Bolton] and Tadhg [Kennelly] there is a lot of leadership back there, but he's just a great player. He always does a good job on a good forward and he gives us a bit of attack and drive off the backline, too."