Essendon selectors will need to brew plenty of coffee and get some pizzas delivered to Windy Hill this Wednesday night. The selection commitee faces one of its toughest meetings of the season and it could go well into the night. The Bombers could welcome back as many as six premiership players for this Friday night's clash with Adelaide. Dustin Fletcher is certain to return after his one week suspension while Mark Mercuri, Blake Caracella, Gary Moorcroft and John Barnes are all expected to prove their fitness. Joe Misiti could also return but will face a fitness test.

Just who to leave out of the Essendon side will be the difficult job of the selection committee. The Bombers played excellent football to roll St Kilda by 42-points last Friday night and there was barely a week link. Should Misiti prove his fitness Damien Peverill will return to the rookie list making one position available.

The return of John Barnes to the side could see Judd Lalich eased back to the VFL side. Lalich, who didn't get much ground time, was included to support young ruckman David Hille and while he did nothing wrong the Bombers will be keen to get Barnes back among the action and in form.

Mark Bullen didn't get much game time against the Saints after copping a knock and selectors would probably have preferred to have given him more time in the VFL before rushing him into the senior side. So that is three positions that may become available.

There are still three more changes that would need to be made to accommodate to returning six players. Should Damien Hardwick prove his fitness, the selectors will face a tough time of it. The four players who have spent time in the reserves this season are Rob Forster-Knight, David Hille, Jonathon Robran and Cory McGrath - it won't be easy to leave any of this quartet out after they performed so well against St Kilda. Who would want to be a selector?

Essendon football manager Matthew Drain said the club wouldn't consider giving the players returning from injury an extra week off given the split round. ""I suppose it is tempting given the fact that if we don't risk them this weekend they effectively get another two weeks to ensure they are right,"" Drain said. ""But you need these players out on the ground and in-form. Some of them have missed quite a bit of football and we wouldn't want them watching from the sidelines any longer than they need to."" Drain also said the club would need all its available experience to overcome an in-form Adelaide side.

And it won't get any easier for the selection panel following the split round when Michael Long, Justin Blumfield, Steven Alessio and Dean Wallis are all expected to return. The next three weeks could see the Bombers' injury list shrink dramatically - let's just hope it remains that way for the rest of the season.