Dylan Shiel will make his long-awaited return from a knee injury on Sunday. (Photo: AFL Photos)

Essendon will welcome back star midfielder Dylan Shiel in its clash with GWS at Metricon Stadium on Sunday.

The Bombers have turned to experience for round 19, with Shiel joining veteran David Zaharakis as inclusions.

Matt Guelfi and Alec Waterman have been omitted from the side which defeated North Melbourne.

MATCH PREVIEW: BOMBERS v GIANTS

Sunday's clash will mark Shiel's third AFL game this season and first since suffering a torn meniscus against Port Adelaide in round two.

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Despite the 28-year-old not having played at any level since round two, senior coach Ben Rutten said Shiel was ready to perform.

"He's (Shiel) an experienced, high-quality player," Rutten said.

"We haven't seen him since round two, but he's been doing a power of work behind the scenes. Our medical team have been supporting him really well.

"We don't expect him to be at his absolute best because he's missed a lot of footy, but he's more than capable of performing pretty close to his best, which we're excited about."

The Bombers will face the Giants from 6:10pm AEST, with the match shown live on Fox Footy and Kayo.

ESSENDON'S ROUND 19 LINE-UP

Backs: Jayden Laverde, James Stewart, Mason Redman
Half-backs: Dyson Heppell (C), Jordan Ridley, Nick Hind
Centreline: Sam Durham, Zach Merrett, Nik Cox
Half-forwards: Archie Perkins, Cale Hooker, David Zaharakis
Forwards: Devon Smith, Peter Wright, Jake Stringer
Followers: Sam Draper, Will Snelling, Darcy Parish
Interchange: Tom Cutler, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Dylan Shiel, Brayden Ham

In: Shiel, Zaharakis

Out: Guelfi (omitted), Waterman (omitted)

Last week's medical sub: Gleeson (not used)