Essendon has made three changes to its line-up for the side’s important clash with Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on Sunday.

The Bombers will be boosted by the return of ruckman Zac Clarke, who missed the team’s stirring defeat of Adelaide last week due to illness.

Emerging forward Jayden Laverde has also returned to the team after overcoming minor back soreness that kept him on the sidelines last week, while in-form defender Ben McNiece will help fill the void left behind by unavailable speedster Conor McKenna.

Captain Dyson Heppell was not able to overcome foot soreness in time for the clash with the Suns, while key-position Bomber Michael Hartley has been omitted.

FINAL TEAM
B – Matt Guelfi, Cale Hooker, Martin Gleeson
HB – Patrick Ambrose, Aaron Francis, Adam Saad
C – Mason Redman, Zach Merrett, David Zaharakis
HF – Dylan Shiel, Jake Stringer, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti
F – Will Snelling, Mitch Brown, Kyle Langford
R – Shaun McKernan, Darcy Parish, Dylan Clarke
Interchange – Zac Clarke, Andrew McGrath, Jayden Laverde, Ben McNiece
Emergencies – David Myers, Michael Hartley, Mark Baguley, Josh Begley

IN – Z. Clarke, Laverde, McNiece
OUT – Heppell (injured), McKenna (unavailable), Hartley (omitted)