No recovery timeline will be put on a trio of Essendon’s biggest names.

Ruckman Sam Draper (hip), forward Jake Stringer (foot) and midfielder Dylan Shiel (foot) are all facing uncertain recovery timelines from their respective injuries.

GM of Performance Daniel McPherson said all three players are being monitored on a week-by-week basis, but all, along with defender Jordan Ridley, have the intention of returning to play in 2023.

“Unfortunately, we can’t give a definitive return to play timeframe at this stage," McPherson said.

"'String', Drapes, and 'Shiely' are all handling varying running loads at the moment, which is promising, and once they progress back into main training, we’ll have a clearer picture of when they’ll play again.

“All of those players, plus Ridley, are training with the expectation of returning to play this year."

Second-year defender Massimo D’Ambrosio will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a knee (lateral ligament) injury in Essendon VFL’s round 19 clash with Sydney.

In positive news, midfielder Will Setterfield will play his first game since round nine, after Senior Coach Brad Scott confirmed the 25-year-old will be available for VFL selection after recovering from a foot injury.

Essendon round 21 injury list