Essendon defender Michael Hibberd is expected to miss Sunday’s match against Collingwood. 

The 25 year old has been restricted in recent weeks by a knee problem. 

“He’s been carrying patella tendonitis and aggravated it against Richmond and is pretty sore,” Club Doctor Bruce Reid said. 

“We probably won’t play him, we don’t want to aggravate it further – we want him to have a good pre-season, so he will probably rest.”

Hibberd has averaged 22 disposals per game across his 21 matches this season.

David Myers is showing strong progress in his recovery from a back injury, but medical staff will continue to take a conservative approach. 

“They’re normally pretty good at three weeks, he’s only at two and a bit now,” Dr Reid said.

“He’d want to be squeaky clean by Thursday.”

Jonathan Giles won’t be considered for selection because of a knee problem. 

“He’s going to have an arthroscope next week so he won’t play, we just want to get his knee right for pre-season,” Dr Reid said. 

Kurt Aylett is likely to resume from a hamstring injury in the VFL next weekend should the side win its Elimination Final on Sunday.