The Herald Sun newspaper has reported that South Dragons captain Shane Heal is in a race against time to be fit to play in his team's game against the Sydney Kings on Friday night.

The Herald's Grantley Bernard has written that Heal has been having injections in an attempt to ease a back problem that scuttled his planned Philips Championship comeback game on Wednesday.

"If it's 50 per cent better than today, I won't be playing," Heal said on Thursday.

"On Wednesday I couldn't move and then had some physio and it loosened, but I got up this morning and it's still jammed."

Heal is reportedly in pain if he sneezes or moves suddenly, and has received cortisone injections in an attempt to be fit to play at the AIS Arena in Canberra on Friday night.

"Without the jabs, I have no chance of playing," Heal said.

"I'll just have to wait and see if it makes a difference, and I want to give myself the best chance of playing."

"We've got 15 days until the next game against Wollongong so I'd be ready to go by then."

"But I want to push it and be aggressive and give myself a chance of playing against the Kings."

"I can't really do anything, but with a bit of luck I might come up."

Heal, a former Kings championship player, said he had been eager to play against his old team.

"I've been looking forward to playing the Kings, but I'd like to be playing against them in different circumstances," Heal said.

The blonde star is expected to travel on Friday in the hope of suiting up, but his return could be delayed until the Dragons' next game on October 14.