Gary Ablett will make his return from injury against North on Saturday.

The Gold Coast captain had a shoulder reconstruction last August and hasn’t played since Round 2.

The 31-year-old was tipped to play against the Blues on Sunday, but was given another week on the sidelines as a precaution.

"I wasn't far off (to being named against the Blues) but the medical staff felt like I needed another week of contact work just to make sure that my shoulder could hold up to the rigours of football,” Ablett told on 3AW.

"I will be there next week. It's been a frustrating couple of months but I feel I've done everything I need to get the shoulder right to get back out there.

"I'll be out there next week (and) I'm really looking forward to it."

The Suns have been ravaged by injury this season, but are starting to get some key players back.

While forward Charlie Dixon injured his ankle against Carlton, Harley Bennell (calf) and Steven May (adductor) made successful comebacks.

As well as Ablett, Gold Coast could regain David Swallow (knee) despite the midfielder failing to play in the AFL or NEAFL on the weekend, and defender Rory Thompson.

Ablett said he’d been stung by suggestions he’d been unwilling to play through pain.

"There's no doubt it hurt, especially when you've got ex-footballers that have played a lot of games (and) they've been through that before.

"If I see an article like that, I'll take out of it what I can, I'll talk to people around me whose opinions I really respect and if there's some changes that need to be made to make me a better leader and a better person then I'm open to that feedback and that criticism.

"With a lot of the articles that have been written, a lot of it's not (the) truth … I'll make sure when I'm back, I'll let my footy do the talking."

Ablett was also forced to defend his club after former player Karmichael Hunt alleged several of his ex-teammates used cocaine last year.

Hunt reportedly told Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission he regularly used drugs and alcohol during his time at the Suns and that several other players used cocaine after 'Mad Monday' celebrations, and also during a golf trip to the Sunshine Coast the following week. He also alleged a Suns player contributed to the payment for the cocaine used.

"I definitely wasn't part of that and I had no idea anything like that was going on," Ablett said.

"Come Monday, we need to lay the facts on the table, it's something that we need to work through and make sure that isn't going on.

"It would be wrong for me to comment because it's been something that's (been) written in the paper (and) I want to make sure all the facts are put in front of the whole leadership group and then we'll work out the process that we go through from there."

Coach Rodney Eade said he didn’t speak to the players about the reports before or after the loss to Carlton.

"Internally, we knew the story was going to come, but there's no sense mentioning it to the players," Eade said.

"To be honest, our players wouldn't read the media and probably wouldn't have known about it.

"We'll wait 'til we get facts. There's going to be an investigation. There's no sense jumping at shadows. There hasn't been any facts presented previously. There's no facts at the moment. There's been a fair bit of mud slung.

"It's interesting that this story would come out on the day that we played our 100th game. Intel says that they probably knew the story a few weeks ago. You can read into that what you like.

"Maybe (the allegations relate to) players who aren't at the club any more … we have to deal in facts. We can't hang people on whispers."