The return of Winderlich and Welsh will give the Bombers some important run through the midfield against a Hawthorn side flush with ball carriers. Winderlich in particular was in excellent form before getting injured while Welsh was adapting well to his new role as a forward.
""They were both close to playing on Anzac Day but we decided to take a cautious approach. They both trained well earlier this week and provided nothing untoward happens on the track this week they will play against Hawthorn,"" Essendon chief operating officer Travis Auld said.
In other injury news, Nathan Lovett-Murray remains only a 50-50 chance of resuming from a groin injury. The hard-running defender is struggling to shrug the injury sustained in the week leading up to the first game of the season.
Leroy Jetta (groin) will miss the next three weeks as will Adam Ramanauskas (groin). Courtenay Dempsey is another two weeks away with a hamstring injury while Jay Neagle in just one week into an eight week rehabilitation program to overcome stress fractures of the ankle.
