Matt Dea has been given the all clear and will be available for selection for the Bombers clash with West Coast on Thursday night.
The defender was a late withdrawal from Essendon’s last game against GWS, pulling out of the match with a sore groin.
The break served the 24 year old well and he returned to full training on Monday.
“Matt had a little bit of groin tightness before the game against Greater Western Sydney,” High Performance Manager Justin Crow said.
“We had the bye round, so he had plenty of time to recover and build up his training.
“He’ll be available to play.”
Dea has proven an astute pick up this season, playing 12 games for the Bombers with his versatility allowing the former Tiger to line-up on tall and small opponents.
The news is also good for forward Sam Grimley who will make his return for Essendon VFL this week.
Grimley has been unavailable since undergoing surgery on his hand after a flair up of an old injury.
He will look to provide another strong target up forward for Essendon VFL when they take on Port Melbourne this Saturday.
Essendon could also regain the services of veteran midfielders Ryan Crowley and Jonathan Simpkin in the coming weeks.
Both have spent time on the sideline with hamstring injuries, but have made good progress in recent weeks – with Crow expecting them to ramp up their training next week.
“We’ve got Ryan Crowley and Jonathan Simpkin both at a similar stage of their progression,” Crow said.
“They’re both looking at 2-3 weeks before they’re back to playing.
“They’ll both start joining in training over the next week and really building up their running and high speed training so that they’re ready to go.”
Essendon will travel to Perth refreshed after enjoying break after their close encounter with the GWS in round 13.
The Bombers are in the middle of a three game stretch that sees them enjoy nine, eleven and ten day breaks.
Crow said gaps between games has allowed the fitness team to get some extra work into the younger players that will benefit them down the track.
“It’s been a really interesting opportunity for us, particularly with the younger group in our list,” said Crow
“What we’ve been able to do is able to get individual programs organised for players in terms of their long term development, particularly the young part of our list.
“So, if guys need to put on weight, they’ve been able to do extra weight sessions; guys who need to improve their running, we’ve been able to get in extra running sessions.
“We’ve been really focusing on these guys long-term development and this section of the year, this part of the fixture has been a great opportunity for us to work on that.”
