Essendon coach John Worsfold says key inclusions Jake Stringer and Matt Guelfi are fit and ready to fire against Sydney at the MCG on Saturday.

Both Bombers passed fitness tests with flying colours at The Hangar this week and Worsfold said he was impressed by Stringer’s intensity on the track.

“(Stringer) has really worked hard to get himself back,” Worsfold said on Thursday.

“He’s really committed to being out there with the boys and has been pushing all the way through.

“We’re really pleased that he managed to show us what he is able to do at training and we’re rapt to have him in.”

Jake Stringer has proven himself on the track and is ready to take on the Swans. (Image: AFL Photos)

He added that Guelfi’s fresh legs, after a week off with soreness in his rib cage, came into play at the selection table as the side enters the crucial game against a fellow finals contender.

“(Guelfi) has been a solid player for us throughout the year.

“Being fit and available and fresh with the week off was something that we took into account in selecting the side for this week, for sure.”

Ruckman Zac Clarke has replaced injured first-choice tall Tom Bellchambers in the line-up and Worsfold says it is important for the side to make the most of its height advantage over the Swans, who have had their own woes with their ruck stocks.

While the Bombers have Bellchambers and young ruck Sam Draper on the sidelines, Sydney is without ruckmen Callum Sinclair, Sam Naismith and Darcy Cameron, with versatile defender Aliir Aliir expected to shoulder the majority of the load on the ball on Saturday.

“We’ve got Zac out there and we’ve got no doubt whoever Sydney puts up against him is going to make it really tough for us.

“And Sydney will adjust its strategies around maybe not having the same sort of height in the middle.

“We’ll be doing the same, trying to maximise any possible height advantage we may have in the middle, but that’s only one very small part of, overall, how we want to play the game.”

Zac Clarke won’t be taking on Callum Sinclair this time against the Swans. (Image: AFL Photos)

Worsfold said the omissions of young Bombers Josh Begley and Kyle Langford are the result of player availability and team balance, rather than a lack of form.

“With Stringer coming back into the side, someone had to miss out. We’ve been really pleased with the way Josh has been going, I think he’s had an enormous year to come back from a knee reconstruction to get into the side.

“There’s a couple of areas of his game we want him to work on. We also understand it’s been a big year for him, so to have a bit of a lighter load via the VFL for a week or two won’t do him any harm.

Josh Begley has made way for Jake Stringer this week. (Image: AFL Photos)

“‘Langers’ has been pretty good, I think we’ve seen a lot of improvement in him throughout the year.

“The balance of what we need this week has seen Guelfi come into the side and Langford miss out, not through form, just through all players being in good form and available and the balance of what we wanted.

The Dons will be keen to atone for their narrow and somewhat controversial five-point loss to the Swans in round eight when the side struggled to connect strongly across the ground and create effective entries inside 50.

But a lot has changed since round eight, despite each side playing just six games between that game and Saturday’s contest. The Bombers have won four of those six, while the Swans have done the same and are one of the form teams of the competition, entering the game following three wins on the trot.

“We understand the way Sydney play, so we always check that out in round eight; has anything changed and what do we need to be ready for?

“But ultimately, it’s about the way we want to play. We didn’t play at the exact level we’d like to play against Sydney and that’s what we’re working towards.

“Since round eight we’ve been putting a lot of things in place, training hard and working on the style of footy both offensively and defensively.

“Sydney will challenge us in a lot of ways, they’ll be tight one on one, we know that and we’ll work our way through that.”