Darcy Parish is expected to miss the next three games with a minor calf strain.

The midfielder woke up sore on the morning of Sunday’s round 10 clash with North Melbourne and was a late out, with subsequent scans on Monday revealing a strain.

Essendon are hopeful Parish will be fit to return following the side’s bye in round 14.

“After missing the first couple of games of the season, Darcy’s season was building nicely and he’d been playing some terrific football for us in recent weeks, so this latest setback, although relatively minor, is frustrating," GM – AFL, Daniel McPherson said.

“Given Darcy’s importance to our team, we’ll use the next few weeks, plus the mid-season bye week, to ensure he is in great shape heading into the second half of the season.”