Fitness coach John Quinn said Mark Johnson (hamstring), Dustin Fletcher (suspension), Mark McVeigh (hamstring), Dean Solomon (finger) and Mark Mercuri (hamstring) are all available for selection.
""Solomon was extremely close to play against Port Adelaide but we went on the side of caution. If he was to re-injure that tendon in his finger we would be without him for the another two to three months. Whilst we would have loved to have him out there yesterday, it was not worth the risk. He is an almost certain starter next week,"" Quinn said.
""McVeigh had a minor to nothing hamstring cramp, so he is a certain starter next week. Mark Johnson and Mercuri are also available to return from hamstring injuries. All of them were so close this week but it is better for them to come in certainly ready, rather than one week underdone.""
Essendon received two injuries out of the Round 1 match. The good news is neither of them is too serious and both players are expected to be available against St.Kilda.
""We don’t think Andrew Welsh is too bad. He got a bit of a knock to his hand 10 minutes in the first quarter. He played the game out, so we are optimistic it is a bit of a hand knock and he will bounce back next week.
""Marc Bullen has got a fairly severe knock to his lower back and he seemed to jam up one of his discs in his lower back. The doctor is confident that should free up by the middle of the week and he will be available against St.Kilda.""
In other injury news –
Quinn said Sean Wellman is a slight chance to return for Round 2, but is more likely to have one more week on the sidelines. ""Sean was never quite as bad as we originally feared. I would say he would be a 70% chance of playing this week. If he was to miss this week, he would virtually be 100% to play the following week. We will re-assess him at training on Wednesday,"" Quinn said.
Damian Cupido is still one week away from returning from knee surgery. ""All the coaching staff agree, he just needs match fitness and he will get that through the VFL team. When he hits the ground, we need him to hit it running because we need that spark in the forwardline."" Ben Haynes is recovering well from a quadricep strain. He is still three weeks away.
