David Zaharakis will make his return to the Essendon side this Sunday against St Kilda.

Zaharakis injured his ankle against Fremantle in round six.

He gathered 28 possessions in the VFL last Saturday.

Ben Howlett, Ariel Steinberg and Alex Browne also come into the squad after impressive VFL form.

“Hayden Skipworth and Paul Corrigan have done a great job in the coaching of the VFL team and really given us a chance to develop our players there,” Essendon Coach James Hird said.

“All credit to the players.  They’re playing well and giving themselves an opportunity to come up into the senior team.”

Jake Carlisle will miss the game as he commences his recovery from an ankle injury.

The match takes on extra significance for Essendon with Jobe Watson reaching his 200^th game.

“It’s fantastic for Jobe, an amazing career – a Brownlow medal, Best and Fairests and a couple of finals,” Hird said.

“Obviously we’d like to improve on that and give Jobe a chance to perform on the big stage in September and we’re all looking to do that this year.”