Adam Ramanauskas could make his return to football as early as next week, according to Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy. Speaking after Essendon’s Round 1 Wizard Cup victory over Fremantle, Sheedy said the side will be strengthened for next week’s match and Ramanauskas could be one of those players he call on. ""He has been given the all clear to play so that is sensational news for our fans and Adam in particular,"" Sheedy said.

""Dean Rioli could also play and perhaps Matthew Allan – we have a few we can look at,"" Sheedy said. ""There were a couple of players that missed tonight who we could have gone with but we prefer to give them that extra week at this time of year.""

""We have got quite a number of boys out at the moment and they will be really pleased the boys won tonight. A couple of them might come in next week and add a little bit of value to a side that has got over a pretty solid Fremantle.""

Sheedy was thrilled with the commitment of his side, particularly the younger brigade who stood up when the heat was on.

""Look, I was just pleased that we played really well. Kepler Bradley is an amazing chaser for someone who is six foot six. He didn’t get a lot of kicks but we did play him at centre half forward and that is a difficult position to play. Brent Stanton chased well and his tackling won us a very important free kick late in the game.""

But Sheedy didn’t forget the role some of his more senior players has performed.

""Hird is just a fantastic player, there is no doubt about that. He didn’t play up in Sydney last week. Scott Lucas was terrific as well,"" he said. ""Our senior players want to get back to winning big football games and we just want to get better than what we were last year.""

""We will have alight week on the track because tonight would have taken a bit out of them. This would have been one of the better Wizard cup games you would see.""