Essendon coach John Worsfold says midfield duo Devon Smith and David Zaharakis are “fresh and ready to go” ahead of Thursday’s blockbuster Anzac Day clash with Collingwood.

The pair have both been immediately recalled after missing last Friday’s victory over North Melbourne, adding 326 games of experience to the side for the most anticipated home and away game of the season.

Worsfold said the short six-day break between games has worked well for the experienced Bombers who are fresh without having lost their touch.

“Dev comes straight back in after managing his work load last week and managing his body for the bigger picture,” Worsfold said on Wednesday.

“David just missed out last week in terms of his knee coming up, but he’s trained well all week and is ready to go.

“It’s wonderful to have those two guys, senior players, coming back in fresh and ready to go. They actually haven’t been out for that long, this being a Thursday game, so that’s worked out really well.

“We didn’t plan for Zaharakis to miss with a sore knee, but in terms of managing to give them a lighter load, it works well for us so we’re really pleased and know that they’ll both come in in great touch.”

Last week’s impressive debutant Brayden Ham and young on-baller Darcy Parish are the unlucky ones making way for the inclusions, and Worsfold stressed their performances were not to blame.

“Ham is really unfortunate to miss out after coming in, but he was a late in for ‘Zacka’. He misses out even though we were really pleased with what he showed last week.

“Parish is similar, (he is) really just forced out of the side not because he is struggling or anything like that, but because with those two guys coming in, one of the midfielders had to miss out.”

Worsfold said the Bombers can’t wait to run out onto the MCG and are feeling “really good” following a great preparation for the exciting match. 

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The build-up has been intensified this year given the strong form of both clubs and Worsfold said Essendon is looking forward to the tough challenge of taking on the high-flying Magpies.

“They’re a club that’s been building their squad for a number of years under Nathan Buckley to get themselves into this position where they’re really having a crack at winning the flag.

“They made it through to the Grand Final last year, they had an awesome year, and they look like they’re going to follow on this year.

“The way they’ve recruited, with Dayne Beams and Jordan Roughead coming in, has really filled a couple of spots that they identified.

“They’re building, but we’re building as well, so we’re really looking forward to playing a team that’s in good form on a big day and testing ourselves out.”

Thursday’s game, the 25th of its kind, will be Worsfold’s fourth Anzac Day match in charge of the Bombers and the importance of the day is not lost on him or his players.

“It’s a massive day, it’s been a massive part of the Essendon Football Club for 25 years now.

“It has been a really rock-solid part of Australia’s sporting calendar that creates a lot of interest and it does bring a lot of attention to what Anzac Day is about as well.

“We’re just out there playing our game of footy. We can use it to say that we know we’re acknowledging the wonderful efforts of our ANZACs – it’s been awesome to be a small part of that.”

Gates will open early at 12:30pm, with the first bounce set for 3:20pm.

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