Essendon defender Courtenay Dempsey is an outside chance to return for the Bombers round 12 match against Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

Dempsey missed Friday night’s clash with Carlton after failing to recover from a heavy knock he received against Sydney when running back with the flight of the ball in Round 11.

“Courtenay is coming along slowly," Football Operations Manager Steve Alessio said.
"His recovery is a session by session thing and we assess how he is going after each session and build up accordingly.”

“We have to be careful when it comes to the rib cage and lung area so we are hopeful that if all goes well he might be a slight chance to play this week.”

“We will see how he goes at training but if not this week then we have a bye and we would definitely have him ready for after the bye.”

Second gamer Will Hams copped a heavy knock when he put his body on the line in an important contest early in the final quarter.

Alessio said Hams had not suffered any injuries from the clash that saw him leave the field winded.

“It was great courage from Will, it was a ball that needed to be won and he put his body on the line and that is why he gets selected in the senior team,” Alessio said.

“It was a big crunch but he has come out of it ok and there is no damage in terms of bruised ribs or cracks or anything like that from an injury perspective.”

“He has trained today and all things going well he should be alright for this weekend.”

Big man Tom Bellchambers did not play any football last weekend after he was rested from the team that faced Carlton on Friday night.

“We had Tom Bellchambers on the weekend who didn’t play, he has shoulder a lot of the ruck load so far this year so giving him that week spell really freshens them up,” he said.

“He was rested, he has trained strongly today and we are really looking forward to him putting his hand up and being part of the side once more.”

“We have a whole season, it is a long season and we need to make sure we are ready to fire at the end of the year.”

Scott Gumbleton’s ankle injury remains a week-to-week proposition with the key forward set to prove his fitness at training later in the week.