Essendon has recalled defender Matt Dea for the match against West Coast tomorrow night.

The former Tiger missed the Bombers game against GWS with a groin injury.

But ten days on, Dea is ready to add to the 12 games he’s played for the Club this season.

“He’s been a very solid performer for us and I think he’s improved as he’s got to know his teammates around him,” Essendon Coach John Worsfold said.

“He’s continued to show really good form on the field and good leadership around the Club.”

Dea comes in at the expense of Patrick Ambrose who sustained a knock to his back in the match against the Giants.

A forward for much of his career, Ambrose had shown promise as a defender in recent weeks.

Worsfold said the hard running 24 year old is expected to be available for the match against St Kilda next week.

“He got a bad knock last week and his back hasn’t settled so we’re very confident it’ll only be one game,” he said.

“He’ll have a good hit out on the weekend in preparation for next weekend.”

Ambrose has been one of the success stories this season.

In recent weeks, he’s competed strongly against Matthew Pavlich, Jack Riewoldt and Jeremy Cameron.

Worsfold wants to use the remainder of the season to continue to build on the progress the team has taken in the first half of the year.

The Bombers Coach said he’s already noticing the benefits of this new group spending more time playing together.

“We’ve got the rest of this season to learn more about what we can do,” he said. 

“We’re starting to see some good chemistry between Daniher, Fantasia and Brown up in the forward line.

“They’ve now played seven or eight games alongside each other in a row, which is great.

“That’s what we can learn from throughout the remainder of the year.”