Essendon young defender Zach Reid has started a modified training program to allow back related stress to settle following a strong pre-season.

Scans confirmed the 20-year-old has stress in his lower back and he will have a modified program for the next few weeks.

“Zach has been impressive during the off-season without missing a session since players returned on November 21. He’s been training at a really high level but has shown slight discomfort in recent days. After consulting with the club’s high-performance team today, the club has decided to allow him the time to rest and recover with a modified program."

"He is a natural talent with elite athleticism and his professionalism will give him the best chance to recover. The club hopes to build him back up when the team returns in January,” Essendon GM of Performance Dan McPherson said.

Essendon will provide a further update in the new year.