Patrick Ryder, Jobe Watson and Scott Lucas are among a number of Essendon players who went under the knife this week to repair various injuries sustained during the season.

According to club doctor, Bruce Reid, Essendon decided to have the surgeries done as early as possible in order to have majority of the playing group fully fit for pre-season training in early November.

""Over the course of this season, 20 of Essendon’s 40 senior players have had some form of surgery which is the highest number ever,"" Reid said.

""Because we had a lot of them done early, virtually all of our players will be in full training by November.

""Jason Winderlich, who underwent delicate back surgery eight weeks ago, will be one exception and will be placed on a restricted training regime.

""The players who underwent shoulder operations also won’t be doing contact drills when the side returns for pre-season.""

Ryder, 20, had reconstructive surgery on a shoulder injury that he has carried for a large part of the 2008 season.

""Patrick has had a torn tendon inside his shoulder joint which made it difficult for him in the ruck when his arm was forced back,"" Reid said.

""He had a shoulder reconstruction to stabilise the tendon.""

After partially dislocating his shoulder twice during the season, Jobe Watson had shoulder stabilisation surgery on Tuesday. Jason Laycock had a screw inserted in his ankle today while Scott Lucas also went under the knife this week for an arthroscope to remove rough cartilage from under his kneecap.

Last week, David Hille had screws inserted into his metacarpal after breaking his hand in Essendon’s Round 20 clash with Adelaide, while Adam McPhee had an ankle operation this week to tidy up spurs in his ankle joint. McPhee will also have surgery on his thumb in the coming weeks to repair torn tendons.