Scott's comments follow recent reports McIntosh will be targeted by Richmond and Port Adelaide, who have both signalled their intentions to target experienced ruckmen in this year's trade period.
Scott said McIntosh, who had post-season achilles tendon surgery, was one or two weeks away from being available for senior selection after playing the past three games in the VFL with Werribee.
In McIntosh's absence, his ruck partner of last year, Todd Goldstein, has been a revelation in North's No.1 ruck position and, after round 16, leads the competition in hit-outs.
Goldstein's form and the new substitute rule meant a fit McIntosh was no longer an automatic selection at North, Scott said at Aegis Park on Thursday.
"His game time is 100 per cent in the VFL now so it's just a matter of conditioning now for him," Scott said of McIntosh.
"I would say once he gets through this week in the VFL it would be a matter of form where he could force his way into the side (but) it's not a fait accompli.
"I think a lot of sides are struggling with the question as to 'can they play two ruckmen?' And that will be a question we'll have to face as well."
Scott said North's players had been devastated following last Sunday's record 117-point loss to Collingwood and he had let them know that such performances were not acceptable.
"I'm just absolutely livid that I've been a part of a loss like that because that's not what this football club is about," Scott said.
"We don't even have to talk about what sort of stand we're going to make. It's expected at this club."
Scott said he and his players had gone through an extensive review of the Collingwood game on Monday and were now "extremely clear" about what went wrong and what they need to do to remedy it.
Scott said he couldn't question his players' work ethic against the Magpies, but the loss had highlighted their poor ball movement into the forward line and the Magpies' ability to hurt them when they turned the ball over.
"Every time we went forward we turned the ball over and the Collingwood midfield was able to get us on the turnover," Scott said.
"We weren't effective enough on our ball use forward and then we got really killed on the turnover, so they're the two things that we've really got to focus on."
Scott said Sunday's match against the Western Bulldogs would be a good guide as to whether North had been able to rectify their trouble areas at training this week.
"Form can fluctuate from time to time, but one thing the Bulldogs have is some really good damaging players," Scott said. "(With) Adam Cooney, Ryan Griffen, (Matthew) Boyd and these guys going through the midfield, they can be as damaging as any side in the competition.
"So we'll get a good gauge out of how many lessons we've taken out of last week and if we've improved at all on the things we've worked on during the week."
Scott confirmed Lindsay Thomas would be dropped to the VFL following his recent mental disintegration in front of goal. Thomas missed a set shot from 15m almost directly in front against Collingwood, a miss that marked a low point in a season in which the small forward has kicked 17.29.
Although praising Thomas' attitude and the extra goalkicking work he had put in on the training track, Scott said Thomas needed to start enjoying his football again.
"We've got to the point now where I've had to make the decision that we're actually hurting Lindsay more by sending him out there to play and he's also not helping the team out there," Scott said.
Scott said North captain Brent Harvey, who chipped a bone in his thumb against Collingwood, would play against the Bulldogs subject to his ability to prove he could handle the ball and tackle.
Nick Bowen covers North Melbourne news for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @NickBowen71
