Essendon coach John Worsfold fronted the media at The Hangar on Wednesday ahead of his side's clash with North Melbourne.

Here are the key quotes...

Dyson Heppell's availability

"We hope he'll be ready to go. If it (foot) was really sore, we'd probably rule him out today. If it's still progressing, we'll give him another couple of days. We'll see how it goes today.

"It's a genetic thing. He had it in his other foot and had it fixed years ago. This one may or may not need intervention."

Cale Hooker and Michael Hurley's fitness

"'Hurls' should be right. They were just checking things out just to get a feel for where he was at.

"He’s (Hooker) pretty good. He was certainly sore during the game, but it’s not something that’s going to linger. They’re pretty happy they’ll got on top of that."

North Melbourne's red-hot form

"There are certainly parts of what they’re doing that are different to when we played them last time. Personnel-wise, they’re very similar. The pressure they’re putting around the contest looks like it’s been a focus for them. I don’t think Cunnington could have been any tougher in the last five weeks. With Ziebell getting more time on the ball, he’s a big, strong player as well. Overall, we’ve seen an increase in their pressure around the contest. They’re in good form, we’re really looking forward to it."

Zac Clarke's form

"It wasn’t surprising that his best quarter was his last quarter (last week). He started to get in the groove of the game. It was a great hitout for him. He hasn’t played a lot of footy over the last six weeks and is coming off a year where he didn’t play any AFL, so I’m confident he’ll improve with more game time and give us a good contest."

David Myers' situation

"He is up for selection. I talk to Myersy regularly about what the team needs and where he’s at. We weigh all that up and then make a call about whether he’s likely to come in or not."

What's pleasing Worsfold the most

"I’m pleased with the fact the guys have stayed focused from round one. We had a bad loss in round one and we were disappointed. We’ve been focused on what we want to work to and we’ve addressed that all the way through. We haven’t changed too much in the last month, we’ve stuck to what we’ve been working on with a focus on getting better at consistently. Consistency of effort has been better than what it has been at periods of the year."

Will Snelling's push for an AFL debut

"He was an emergency last week. We certainly discussed what he could bring. We’re blessed at the moment with the guys playing pretty good footy. Langford was out last week before Heppell got withdrawn, and he’s going really well for us."