Essendon has named four inclusions to a 26-man squad for Sunday's crunch clash with Collingwood at the MCG.

Nik Cox, Brayden Ham, Andrew Phillips and last week's unused medical sub Martin Gleeson are in line to return, having been named on an extended interchange.

The Bombers have no outs at this stage, with the 22-man team to be named at 5pm AEST on Friday.

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Essendon will go head-to-head with its arch rival from 3:20pm AEST on Sunday, with the match broadcast live on Channel Seven.

Should the Bombers prevail, they'll be guaranteed a place in the finals.

ESSENDON'S ROUND 23 EXTENDED SQUAD

Backs: Mason Redman, Jordan Ridley, Nick Hind
Half-backs: Dyson Heppell (C), Jayden Laverde, Tom Cutler
Centreline: Matt Guelfi, Zach Merrett, Sam Durham
Half-forwards: Will Snelling, Aaron Francis, Dylan Shiel
Forwards: Jake Stringer, Peter Wright, Devon Smith
Followers: Sam Draper, Darcy Parish, Dylan Clarke
Extended interchange: James Stewart, Alec Waterman, Nik Cox, Archie Perkins, Andrew McGrath, Martin Gleeson, Brayden Ham, Andrew Phillips

In: Cox, Gleeson, Ham, Phillips

Out: Nil

Last week's medical sub: Gleeson (not used)