Coach Luke Beveridge on Thursday confirmed Tom Boyd (back), Lin Jong (hamstring) and Jackson Trengove (ankle/illness) would return through the VFL, while backing Johannisen to make a seamless return against last year's grand-finalists.
"He's come back in and played really well historically," Beveridge said.
"We''ll back that in with JJ. The other lads haven't got that form line and haven't got that history."
The Bulldogs' fall from the AFL summit over the past two seasons is reflected by the clash against the Magpies being their sole Friday night fixture in 2019.
Last week's disappointing loss to the Suns reinforced that the rejuvenated Bulldogs remain a work in progress, while Beveridge noted that Collingwood - coming off another loss to West Coast - were also yet to reach peak form.
"I don't think we really have a handle on the form line of the competition yet; even where Collingwood are at in the scheme of things, no one really knows," Beveridge said.
"We've got a good formula and I think the players believe in it. The system-based aspects of what we do are working.
"It's just the icing on the cake or just rounding off those edges, that's what we need to do on both the attacking and the defensive side of the game."
Howe missed Wednesday's training session after reporting flu symptoms, while Moore rolled an ankle during the loss to the Eagles.
"We've been a bit hot and cold this year," Buckley said.
"We need to just (be) getting to work and improving."