ESSENDON midfielder Bachar Houli is approaching the Bombers' pre-season full of optimism with his frustrating year-and-a-half long battle with injuries finally over.

Houli, 21, has managed just 17 senior games over the past two years with groin problems, recurring illness, and most recently a broken fibula restricting his output.

Now he is looking forward to getting back on the track in a month's time after a lengthy period nursing the fractured leg bone.

"It's been six weeks now, and I went to the doctor to get some more x-rays on the fibula, and it's improving – slowly, though," Houli told afl.com.au on Thursday.

"They think I'm about four weeks away from running, so hopefully I can be back by pre-season.

"We're back around November 9, so hopefully I'll get a few weeks in me and build a basic running base before we start training, and from there, be ready to go."

Houli entered this season with a limited fitness base having spent the summer trying to rebuild his endurance after groin release surgery in July last year.

He played in Essendon's round one clash with Port Adelaide, but was then dropped to the reserves for three games before earning a round seven recall.

He said periodic illness across the year, including a virus that was initially thought to be swine flu later in the season, had frustrated him beyond belief.

He was then delivered the final blow in round 19 against the Brisbane Lions when he sustained the leg injury that ended his year.

"It happened in the second quarter, and I was running with a limp for about half a quarter because I was just treating it as a bruise," he said.

"At training throughout the week, it started feeling sore, and by Saturday, the day before the game against St Kilda, it just went on me, fully cracked, and I knew I'd done something pretty major.

"It was a pretty rough season, but I've got to look at the positive side that it's out of the way and I can look forward to 2010."

Houli said the forced layoff wasn't entirely a negative experience, as it enabled him to actually rest and give his recovering groin a period away from the track.

"It was a good and bad thing that happened, because I do love my training and I tend to train pretty hard," he said.

"This gives me an opportunity to get off my legs throughout the off-season."

Houli said he was surprised at Essendon captain Matthew Lloyd's retirement announcement on Wednesday, but believed the 270-game player had made the right decision.

"It is very sad. Lloydy is a great guy, he's a leader, he's an experienced campaigner – he's got the works," he said.

"That was his decision to move on, and he's got more plans for the future and I'm sure whatever he does will benefit his family.

"I thought he was going to play on for another year or two, but he's made the call and he thinks it's the right one, and life isn't always purely about football."

He also echoed Lloyd's thoughts and said any of the Bombers' current leadership group of Jobe Watson, David Hille, Andrew Welsh, Mark McVeigh and Adam McPhee could slot into the permanent role.

"There's a great leadership group there and it's hard to tell who should get the job," he said.

"All these guys are great leaders so it will be interesting to see, but whichever one takes it won't think he's ahead of the others because they all work as a team."