Essendon has withdrawn Aaron Francis from Saturday night's clash against West Coast at Optus Stadium, with the defender succumbing to illness.
The 23-year-old has been replaced by Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, while ruckman Nick Bryan will take the emergency spot vacated by Zerk-Thatcher's elevation to the starting 22.
Zerk-Thatcher joins star forward Jake Stringer as inclusions, with Francis and Harrison Jones (managed) making way.
The Bombers arrived in Perth on Wednesday, returning negative COVID-19 tests and already completing two training sessions at Optus Stadium.
They'll name their medical sub at 6:40pm AEST on Saturday - one hour before the bounce.
ESSENDON'S ROUND 11 TEAM:
Backs: Jayden Laverde, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Jordan Ridley
Half-backs: Dyson Heppell (C), James Stewart, Nick Hind
Centre: Andrew McGrath, Zach Merrett, Nik Cox
Half-forwards: Archie Perkins, Jake Stringer, Will Snelling
Forwards: Alec Waterman, Cale Hooker, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti
Followers: Andrew Phillips, Darcy Parish, David Zaharakis
Interchange: Mason Redman, Matt Guelfi, Kyle Langford, Peter Wright
Emergencies: Brayden Ham, Nick Bryan, Patrick Ambrose, Harrison Jones
In: Stringer, Zerk-Thatcher
Out: Jones (managed), Francis (illness)
Last week's sub: Ham (not used)
