The Highlanders are more comfortable on the injury front and should have a mostly injury-free squad to pick from when the team is named today.
Highlanders forwards Ross Kennedy and Anthony Perenise both have injury niggles but have yet to make a starting appearance this season and are unlikely to make the squad of 22.
The Blues have been hampered by injury all season and it is not getting any better as the business end of the season looms.
The loser of the match on Friday night at Eden Park will drop valuable points in a very tight race for the semifinals. There are nine teams within eight points of each other behind the table-topping Sharks, with five rounds left to play.
Blues prop John Afoa is definitely out of Friday night's match, after suffering a nasty injury to his ankle against the Lions last Friday. His leg is now in a moon boot and he was due to have the injury scanned yesterday to assess the damage.
Williams suffered an Achilles heel injury on March 27 against the Waratahs and is still not fully fit. He was hopeful of playing against the Highlanders but is not yet right.
Woodcock has not played since the match against the Sharks at Eden Park on March 7. He has been hit by a problem in an ear which makes it hard for him to maintain balance and run.
If he is out, and Afoa unavailable, the Highlanders will fancy their chances at scrum time against inexperienced props Charlie Faumuina and Tevita Mailau.
Woodcock was able to run at training on Monday but there are concerns about his match fitness and his ability to move at all angles.
Former Otago halfback Chris Smylie is out for the rest of the Super 14 season after ripping his hamstring against the Lions.
The other halfback in the squad, Taniela Moa, has a misconduct charge hanging over him, with a hearing scheduled this week. He sat out last week's game because of the charge, which involved the throwing of a bottle at a club rooms.
He may miss Friday's match, depending on the penalty, and Grayson Hart may start. North Harbour halfback Matt France has joined the squad.
First five-eighth Tasesa Lavea has a hamstring strain and is unlikely to play although he has been sharing the No 10 jersey with Jimmy Gopperth all season, so his absence should not be too much of a hindrance.
Former Highlanders captain Josh Blackie has a knee problem but is likely to front up while Anthony Boric battled cramp in his leg last week but is also likely to play.
The Blues are sixth on the Super 14 table, one place and one point above the Highlanders.
The Blues hold the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy after beating the Highlanders 40-15 in Dunedin last year.
The Highlanders have only won once in Auckland, in 2002, since the Super 14 started.
