Essendon defender Courtenay Dempsey will play his first game of the 2014 season for the club’s VFL team in a practice match against Geelong on Saturday morning.

Soft tissue complaints throughout the pre-season have hampered Dempsey who is expected to work on his match fitness before returning to the AFL team.

Coach Mark Thompson recently said Dempsey would have to prove his fitness before returning to the senior side.

“He will play a few weeks in the VFL,” Thompson said.

“It is a bit about the amount of work he has done accumulative over the summer.”

“He hasn’t had enough hours at training so we are going to try and give him a little pre-season and het him strong.”

Tayte Pears, Jake Melksham, Leroy Jetta and Travis Colyer headline a team including 17 AFL listed Bombers.

Ben Duscher, Jacob Thompson, Josh Mellington and Josh Toy are among the big name VFL listed players set to line up.

Essendon fans are welcome to attend the match for free starting at 11am with the Polly Farmer Gate open from 10am.