Days out from making his debut for Essendon, Brent Prismall says he is not feeling any pressure ahead of Sunday’s clash with Adelaide.

“I’m not feeling too bad at the moment actually but I’m sure come Sunday I will be a little bit more nervous. I can’t wait to get out there,” Prismall said.

“I just want to contribute and play my role. I will use the old cliché and take my footy one week at a time and hope that I can contribute and have a win in what is a crunch game for the footy club this week.“

The 22-year-old is relieved to be given the opportunity to compete at senior level following a lengthy period of recovery from a knee injury sustained while playing for Geelong in last year’s Preliminary final.

“I am just looking forward to getting out there with a new bunch of blokes and playing my best,” Prismall said.

“My recovery from my knee has been really smooth sailing all the way through and it has been a credit to all the fitness staff at the footy club. I wouldn’t be back this quickly or in this condition without their help.

“It is pretty satisfying to come back a little bit quicker than usual but I don’t think my training has been compromised by coming back early.”

Prismall admits the time spent in recovery during his first few months at the Club was frustrating but also allowed him to form strong bonds with senior members of the playing group.

 “It was frustrating to come to a new club injured because you just want to get out and show your wares but I look for the positives in it and there were plenty there,” he said.

“As soon as I got to the Club, I was put into the rehab group. Unfortunately for the Club, there were a few guys in there at the time but it was good for me because I was able to really get to know the guys like Mark McVeigh, Jason Winderlich and Scott Lucas and from that perspective it was quite good for me.”

Essendon assistant coach Gary O’Donnell is pleased with the professionalism and leadership qualities Prismall has shown since arriving at the Club last year and wants to see the midfielder do his best when he runs out on Sunday.

“He is a pretty level headed person and player. He is a young man who shows a good deal of leadership,” O’Donnell said.

“Already he has brought to the club a sense of how hard you have to play to play league footy and that has rubbed off on our players.

“He has worked very hard to get back so quickly but we can’t expect too much from him. It takes a little while to get back to the AFL tempo again.

“We just want to see him do his best on the weekend and that will be enough for us.”