ESSENDON coach Matthew Knights has indicated he will give one of his young defenders first crack at Brendan Fevola this Friday night, despite the Carlton spearhead's recent form against the Bombers.

Fevola has kicked 39 goals in his past seven outings against Essendon, with the most recent result coming in round three this year where inaccuracy saw him slot 4.7.

While young defender Darcy Daniher – Fevola's round three opponent – isn't likely to be considered for a second try, another youngster in Tayte Pears is in the frame.

"We've tended to go with youth to try and develop their resilience to play on good players," Knights said on Tuesday.

"We've done it with Daniher, we've done it with [Michael] Hurley on [Warren] Tredrea first round, we've done it with Pears.

While Knights said Dustin Fletcher was also an option for Fevola, he stressed that the club was mindful of developing its younger brigade.

"We'll back our young defence. We have all year, and there's no reason for me to go away from that.

"Fevola is a handful and we haven't managed to stop him as a team for two or three years now. He's got sevens, eights and nines, which are really big bags in the modern age.

"We're going to have to try and cut that down a little bit."

Knights said Daniher, who last played seniors in round four before being troubled by a groin complaint, was benefitting from some time spent in the lower league. 

"Darcy is applying his trade in the VFL. He's a very talented player but he's got a lot to learn, and I'm not going to put young players in there unless I think they can at least hold their own," he said.

"I think Darcy's got a few areas he's got to get better at. We've got high hopes he'll make a good defender."

Knights said he would refrain from rushing last year's overall No.5 draft pick Hurley back into the side, with the youngster to play for Bendigo after overcoming a scaphoid injury.

"When I see Michael's name up on the magnet board, it's very enticing to put him in for a big game against Carlton," he said.

"He's a young player we think a lot of. The reality is, he hasn't played a game of football yet in five or six weeks.

"He'll play in the VFL this week, between 80 to 90 minutes, as will Tom Bellchambers."

Knights said Henry Slattery would come into the 22 after overcoming a two-week hamstring, while Nathan Lovett-Murray would be considered after a strong month on the training track.

Bachar Houli is likely to miss after battling illness, while Adam McPhee (calf) and Brent Prismall (ribs) will be tested.