Emerging Essendon forward Courtney Johns will not be sidelined for any significant length of time despite missing the second half of last night’s match against West Coast with a corked hip. Johns sustained the injury after colliding with West Coast ruckman Mark Seaby. It is not the same hip as that which sidelined him for two years.

Johns had started the game well kicking two goals – the second came courtesy of a spectacular contested mark in the goal square. Essendon high performance manager John Quinn said the injury is only minor and that he may miss one game as a precautionary measure.

""It certainly isn’t anything serious. We will have a look at him during the week and make a decision. He may miss one game just to be on the safe side but it certainly won’t seriously impact on his pre-season,"" Quinn said.

The only other injury concern at the moment for the Bombers surrounds the recovery of Scott Camporeale who recently underwent ankle surgery. His recovery hasn’t been progressing as quickly as medical staff would have liked. He will miss another two to three weeks and faces a race against time to be fit for the Bombers opening round match against Adelaide.

Essendon rested a number of key players from last night’s game including James Hird, Scott Lucas, Jason Johnson, Nathan Lovett-Murray and Adam McPhee. All could play in next weekend’s practice match in Geelong. An opponent is still to be confirmed.

On another positive note for the Club, highly-rated draft pick Scott Gumbleton played his first game for the Club and didn’t look out of place. He may line up next weekend as well.