Essendon captain James Hird could play against Collingwood this weekend providing he completes full training sessions this Wednesday and Friday. Hird badly sprained his ankle against Carlton but an intensive rehabilitation program, including daliy physiotherapy, has seen him improve dramatically. Hird resumed running this week and has also done some agility work and his ankle has pulled up well from the testing. While happy to give him until the last minute to prove his fitness, Essendon football manager Matthew Drain said no risk would be taken with Hird.

""He will have to get through a couple of training sessions and show no ill-effects to be included this weekend,"" Drain said. ""We have been very pleased with the recovery to this stage but we won't be putting him on the ground for the sake of it. We need to be sure he has fully recovered.""

Dean Rioli could also return to the senior side this weekend after playing a half in the reserves on the weekend. Rioli was playing his first game for five weeks following a calf injury. ""He got through a half in the reserves but it is a lot different to playing in the seniors,"" Drain said. ""We will have a look at him but the players we had last week did the job. We won't rush him back if we think he will benefit from another game in the reserves.""

Michael Long completed a full match in the reserves and will play at least one more before being considered for senior selection. He will be joined by Justin Blumfield who looks certain to resume after recovering from a knee injury.

Mark Johnson (shoulder) and Dean Solomon (hip) both look set to play this weekend after being late withdrawals against Sydney. Aaron Henneman will play after sustaining mild concussion against Sydney. John Barnes however may miss another week with achilles soreness. ""Achilles injuries can be difficult to manage so we will monitor John during the week,"" Drain said. ""Any serious damage to the achilles and you can be sidelined for quite some time so he is another who will sit it out unless we are convinced he is 100%.""

The Bombers will again be without Matthew Lloyd who has another week of his suspension to serve. Josh Mahoney (jaw) and Damien Peverill (foot) are both three weeks away from playing. Dean Wallis and Jonathon Robran will miss another week with hamstring injuries.