A number of injured Bombers will make their return to football this weekend.
Youngsters Jayden Laverde and Alex Morgan are likely to be named in the Essendon VFL side set to take on Sandringham this Sunday.
The game will be the first time that Laverde has played since injuring his shoulder against Geelong in round 4.
Morgan is set to return for just his third game of VFL, where he will be looking to build his fitness and push for AFL selection later in the year.
The news is also extremely positive for Jake Long.
Initially expected to miss a fair amount of time with an MCL injury suffered against Richmond , Long could potentially make his return this week.
Long trained strongly at the Club on Tuesday, looking comfortable as he participated in a full range of drills.
“We’re reasonably confident that Jake Long, if he gets through a fitness test later this week, will also return from his MCL injury,” said Crow
“He’s done everything right and he’s really excelled through his rehab.
“The way he trained today, we’re starting to get more and more confident that he’ll be ok to play.”
Coaches will also be looking forward to the return of Michael Hartley in the coming weeks, with the defender tracking well in his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Hartley was running at the main training session this week and is a good chance to play against the GWS Giants.
Other injured Bombers Jonathan Simpkin and Nathan Grima have also returned to running and should be available in the coming weeks.
