A number of key Essendon players will undergo scans in the coming days to determine the full extent of the club’s growing injury list.

General manager of football operations Paul Hamilton said players including Courtenay Dempsey and Mark McVeigh will be assessed this week leading up to the Bombers’ important clash against Carlton on Saturday afternoon.

“We were concerned about our injuries, because we did have a number of soft tissue injuries from the previous week,” Hamilton said.

“In terms of our new injuries, we’re still waiting to find out about Courtenay Dempsey who is obviously our biggest concern at the moment.

“He had to be subbed off at quarter time (against Gold Coast on Saturday) with a hamstring problem which we believe is related to his knee reconstruction so we’re going to treat that clinically this week.

“We’ll test him during the week and if he comes up well, then he’ll be a chance to play on the weekend but ultimately, we’re not going to take any risks,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton all but ruled out Essendon veterans David Hille and Mark McVeigh for this weekend’s clash against Carlton, but said the pair would be monitored closely ahead of the Anzac Day blockbuster.

“Both Mark and David’s calf injuries are quite slight, but with those types of injuries you cannot take too many risks,” he said.

“They are both in the rehab program at the moment and at this stage David has been ruled out of this weekend, but we’ll sit closely on it with Mark later this week."

Click here to view the club's full injury list.

Hamilton said the soft-tissue injuries to David Myers, Nathan Lovett-Murray, Jason Winderlich and Alex Browne all ranged in severity.

“In terms of our hamstring injuries, we do have different degrees of severity,” Hamilton told The Recovery Room - proudly supported by Body Ice.

“Alex has the most concerning injury out of those boys, and he is looking likely to miss another four weeks.

“At this stage, we think Jason is still another two to three weeks away too.

“David and Nathan only have very minor hamstring injuries but I couldn’t image they’ll be available for the weekend either, but we will wait and see."

In a further blow for the club, Hamilton revealed young recruit Nick O’Brien would be sidelined for up to six weeks with a serious foot injury.

“Nick hurt his foot playing for our Bendigo side in the VFL so he will be out for up to six weeks but it is an injury that is potentially serious so we will monitor him very closely,” he said.

“We’re not going to risk him at all, so from that point of view and because he is a first year player, we are going to monitor him 100% and be very conservative with that approach.”

In positive news, key defender Cale Hooker made a return to football via the VFL on the weekend and could be a chance to return this week to face Carlton.

“While he did only play a quarter of football, it is his first step back and we wanted to get a bit of game time into him. He will be assessed this week so we will see how we go,” Hamilton said.

“We really need the numbers to face Carlton this weekend, so in brighter news, we’re looking forward to hopefully welcoming Sam Lonergan from suspension this week too.”