GEELONG appears certain to be without gun midfielder Steve Johnson for Saturday night’s blockbuster against Hawthorn at the MCG.

Cats Coach Chris Scott all but ruled out Johnson earlier this week, saying club medical staff would take a cautious approach with the star’s foot injury.

"We are going to be very conservative (with Johnson)," Scott said.

"The plan was always to keep him off his foot for as long as possible, hence the crutches.

"He can walk around fine, (the medical staff) just think it will help him more not to be weight-bearing.

"I think given we've talked about how conservative we're going to be, I wouldn't be putting him in my Supercoach team this week."

Johnson didn’t play in Geelong’s victory over Carlton last Friday night.

It is a blow for the Cats ahead of the crucial clash that would see the Hawks jump over Geelong and into second position on the AFL ladder with a victory.

The triple premiership star wreaked havoc the last time the two teams met, picking up 34 disposals and booting three goals in his side’s win over the Hawks on Easter Monday in Round 5.

That performance continued a trend for Johnson, who seems to save some of his best football for matches against the Hawks.

In last year’s Preliminary Final, Johnson finished with 32 disposals and four goals, this time inflicting most of the damage in a brilliant first half.

In fact, Johnson averages more disposals against the Hawks than any other team outside expansion clubs Gold Coast and GWS.

Johnson averages 21.75 disposals against the Hawks and has booted 21 goals in 16 matches against them. He does most of his damage on the outside against Hawthorn, with 14 of his 21.75 disposals uncontested on average.