Essendon midfielder Scott Camporeale could be available to play sooner than expected with his injured knee not as bad as first thought.
There were grave fears that his season could be over after he strained his patella tendon on Saturday night and was unable to play out the game.
Camporeale injured himself early in the second quarter of his 250th match played against the Western Bulldogs at The Dome.
The former Carlton premiership player had scans on Sunday, and will visit a specialist this afternoon, but the club diagnosis has improved and he is now expected to miss only a couple weeks of football.
High performance manager, John Quinn, said the specialist will determine exactly how long he will miss and what sort of recovery he will need to undertake.
""Put it this way, we are far more optimistic today (Monday) than we were on Saturday night after the game,"" he said.
Meanwhile, Essendon has confirmed it will not be rushing James Hird's recovery after he strained a calf muscle against Geelong in his 250th game.
Hird is expected to miss three more weeks of football with the club desperate to avoid another injury in what is shaping as his last season.
""We don't want him to go out there and injure his calf again because, if that was to happen, that could be the last time we see James playing football,"" Quinn said.
