North Albury batsman Ash Borella coy on his playing return for finals

Borella suffered a grade two hamstring strain on his right leg against Corowa on February 20 and was forced to retire.

He had also strained it against Tallangatta five weeks earlier.

"We might keep it quiet and see if Belvoir speculate anything (on whether I'll play)," he offered.

"You'll find out on Saturday."

Borella's stance is not unusual in any sport, particularly at finals time where the pressure to win is ramped up.

The left-hander has spent virtually every second day with his physio in the past fortnight in a desperate attempt to play.

And while he wasn't giving much away, it would be a fair effort to play considering where he was on Thursday.

"I'm back to a slow jog, that's a good sign," he revealed.

It was put to him a slow jog on the eve of finals makes him extremely doubtful, at least for this weekend's double header.

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"I'll train tonight (Thursday), I'll up the ante and see how I go, but I'll keep a lot of things close to our chest," he explained.

Borella is a four-time CAW leading run-scorer, although he's had a moderate season with 466 runs at 29.

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North and second-placed St Patrick's are the only teams guaranteed a second chance in Sunday's semi-finals.