Matt Dea and Kyle Langford are in the mix to return for the Bombers on Sunday, while Josh Begley could make his AFL debut.

The trio was named in Essendon’s 25 man squad to play Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium.

The final 22 will be named on Friday.

Dea hasn’t played since round ten. He’s played five games this season after playing 21 last year on his way to winning the Adam Ramanauskas Most Courageous Player award.

“He wants to play every week but he understands where the team is at,” Essendon Coach John Worsfold said.

“He’s really enjoying seeing the young players develop.

“That doesn’t take away from his disappointment but he’s such a team man he’ll support the boys.

“We need him ready to go to fill roles for us and to come in in good form and he’s certainly in that.”

The Bombers will face a Western Bulldogs outfit coming off two straight wins.

The Dons have won their last three and Worsfold said the team learnt a valuable lesson against the Kangaroos last week.

“We know we’re playing against a good opposition and we expect that every week,” he said.

“For us it's consistency of the way we want to play the game and being prepared that we are going to have some really tight, tough periods where it’s not all our way.

“That was one of the great things we learnt against North and – don’t get frustrated if it’s not going our way at any given period, just keep fighting through and if we stick with what we’re doing, we believe we’ll get the result in the end.”