Richmond coach Adem Yze has detailed the plan for returning youngster Sam Lalor in Sunday’s game against Hawthorn.

Lalor will play his first match since Round 7, after recovering from a partial Achilles tear.

Speaking on Friday morning, Yze said Lalor will be on managed minutes for Sunday’s contest.

“It's pretty exciting for our footy club, the boys are up and about. [Lalor’s] done a power of work, so we're looking forward to getting him in there,” Yze said.

“He'll be on managed minutes essentially, but to have him back out there for the remainder of the year will be really important for us. 

“You'd have two or three players that are on sort of that amount of game time (50-60 per cent) with the five on the bench anyway, so he'll fall into that category. 

“He'll spend his time forward and midfield as he did at the start of the year. 

“Exciting to get him out there and I know the expectations will be high, but for us, it'll be just about getting him back going and enjoying himself. 

“Six weeks of Sammy Lalor playing for our footy club is going to be really important.”

Yze explained how Lalor, along with other players on the Tigers’ injury list, have still improved throughout the year despite not being able to play.

“There is still some blue sky when you're not playing, so even with Jonty Faull and Harry Armstrong…Harry missed a lot of footy, and he's come back bigger and stronger, so they've put on some size, which you might not normally do during the season,” Yze said.

“We've always preached that if we're missing games or game time, there's other ways that we can get better, and Sammy falls in that category. 

“He worked on his fitness and he obviously could work on other parts of his game without being able to get out there and play. He has done a power of work and is ready to go, and we can’t wait to see him out there.”