Essendon ruckman Matthew Leuenberger is on track to return to the field this weekend.

The big man missed the round 16 clash against St Kilda after injuring his knee in the loss to West Coast. 

Leuenberger appeared set for an extended time on the sideline but High Performance Manager Justin Crow said the former Lion has avoided major injury and should be available for selection for this week.

“Matthew did a session on Monday and he’s back in full training,” Crow said.

“We’ll be expecting him to be putting up his hand to be available for selection this weekend.

“His knee is great. We really dodged a bullet there and we’re really confident that he’ll prove his fitness this week and be out there on the weekend.” 

A slight injury cloud still hangs over veteran Mathew Stokes.

The premiership player is battling a groin complaint and the Club will monitor him throughout the rest of the week.

“Stokes has got a little bit of groin soreness that he’s had in the past at Geelong," Crow said.

“We’re going to try and do the right thing by Mathew and get that right.

“He’ll be rehabbing this week and we’ll make a decision later in the week as to whether he’ll be available.”