Essendon midfielder Darcy Parish and key defender Patrick Ambrose are both set for a stint on the sidelines.

Parish performed strongly in the VFL side’s dominant victory over Northern Blues on the weekend, but Physical Performance Manager Justin Crow revealed on Tuesday that he had suffered a disappointing setback.

“Darcy Parish, who played a good game, has sustained a fracture to the base of his thumb – which is called a Bennett’s fracture,” Crow said in the SKINS Injury Update.

“(It) needs to be operated on, because that can become arthritic very quickly otherwise.

“The bad news for Darcy is that the normal return for those is around eight weeks – some players do a little bit better, some a bit slower.”

While it isn’t clear how long the injury will force Parish from returning to the field, Crow said the young gun can still train during his rehabilitation.

“We’ll be checking with the surgeon after he’s had that procedure and getting a better feel for how long it’s going to take to get Darcy back on the park.

“The silver lining there (is) that we can really work hard on Darcy’s running ability through that period.”

Ruckman Tom Bellchambers has been cleared to play in the Dreamtime at the G clash on Saturday following calf tightness, but Ambrose’s similar concern has not yielded such positive results.

“(Bellchambers) went off for a scan just to make sure and that scan’s proven to be clear, so obviously we’ll respect some tightness in the calf, but no strain there so we’re expecting Tom to train tomorrow and be available to play,” Crow said.

“The other one was Pat Ambrose who also played the game with calf tightness (and), like Tom, finished the game.

“However, Pat was not as lucky, he does have a strain in his soleus. That means that he will now enter rehabilitation and we’re expecting him to be available for the VFL match after the bye, which is a Sunday as opposed to the Thursday when the AFL (team) plays West Coast.”

In better news for Bombers fans, Michael Hurley is in line to put his hand up for selection after recovering from a hamstring strain.

“Hurls did a really good session on Saturday, we’re happy with how he trained.

“He did a match volume at match speeds, he’ll train fully this week and be expected to be available.”

Fans will also be encouraged by the news that Travis Colyer is expected to play for the first time this year after patiently recovering from a broken foot.

“(There is) some more good news there with Trav Colyer. He’s a good chance to play some game time in the VFL this weekend.

“He, pending getting through the main session well, will be available for some limited minutes in the VFL and then start building up his match loads.”

Young midfielder Kobe Mutch failed to take the field on the weekend and appears likely to miss again after failing to overcome a series of niggling headaches.

“Kobe has had intermittent headaches over the last week and a half. There is no evidence of concussion, but we’d like to be conservative, because sometimes it’s difficult to work out exactly why these headaches are coming,” Crow said.

“Until they resolve completely for an extended period, we’re going to keep him out of contact training and then also out of matches.

“So we’ll be watching him closely this week as to whether or not he becomes available for the weekend.”

Experienced on-baller David Myers is also in doubt after his hip strain triggered another minor concern.

“David Myers’ hip injury has bled and is affecting the cutaneous nerve – which is a nerve close to the skin – In the front of his thigh, which is giving him a tingling sensation.

“Though David’s injury is okay, we’re not really comfortable with him playing while feeling that tingling down the front of his leg.

“So we’ve injected around the nerve to see if that makes a difference, but this week our main training day will be a test again to see whether or not he’s available to play.”

Star forward Joe Daniher is still recovering from his osteitis pubis symptoms, while the club is hopeful important defender Marty Gleeson will have his moon boot removed next week as he continues to recover from a severe ankle injury.

The video of Bomber TV’s full interview with Crow will be available soon.