Essendon is set to have a healthy list to choose from for its practice match against the Western Bulldogs at the NEC Hangar on Wednesday.

Harry Jones, Sam Durham, Kyle Langford, Dylan Shiel and Jake Kelly were among those to sit out last week’s intraclub match, but could feature in the Bombers’ first hitout against opposition.

Head of high performance Sean Murphy said Monday’s main session would give more clarity on their availability.

“Shiel will need to get through full training today and tick off a few markers. He hasn’t had any issues with that quad overload. He’ll look to play against the Dogs,” Murphy said.

“Durham had a significant calf cork out of training and missed the game as a precaution. He’ll aim to train fully this week and hopefully line up on Wednesday.

“Jones has strung together a couple of really good weeks of training. We’re hoping to get a half of footy in him against the Bulldogs, so we’re just managing his loads as we build into the start of the season.

“Kelly had some soreness going into the intraclub, so we decided not to play him. He’ll look to train in our main session today, and then we’ll make an assessment on whether he plays on Wednesday.

“Langford had a minor shoulder injury, but he’s now back into full training and will play against the Dogs.”

The Bombers got through relatively unscathed in their intraclub match last week, with minor injuries to ruckmen Andrew Phillips and Nick Bryan the only concerns.

“Phillips had a minor adductor strain early in the game. He’ll now go into a rehab program and will look to build him up over the coming weeks for the start of the season,” Murphy said.

“Bryan copped a laceration to his knee. It required stitches, so that’s why he had to come off later in the game.

“He’ll look to train today and then we’ll make an assessment on whether or not he’ll be able to play against the Dogs.”

A number of players lit up the Bombers’ intraclub match, with Jye Caldwell’s first-half performance (14 disposals, one goal) particularly impressive.

Murphy said he was pleased with what he saw.

“I was really happy with how the boys performed. From a numbers point of view, we actually hit above game loads. It’s really pleasing that we’ve seen some big improvers, and some to mention are Francis and Caldwell,” he said.

“For the time Caldwell played, he looked strong and dynamic. He’s done a full pre-season, so he’s in a really good spot to launch into the season.

“Cox has had some interruptions, so it was good to see him out there along with Baldwin, who’s had a good pre-season.”

Essendon will face the Western Bulldogs from 3pm AEDT on Wednesday, with the match shown live on Kayo.

Fans wishing to attend need to secure their spot by registering here.