Essendon welcomes back James Hird after he missed last week’s match with bleeding in his right eye. Mark Alvey and Jobe Watson have both earned themselves another opportunity in the seniors. Both have been solid contributors in the VFL for the past few weeks.

Alvey collected 29 possessions against Coburg last week and booted three goals. Jobe Watson offered good support to Alvey in the middle - he finished with 20 disposals and added one goal to Bendigo's scoreline. Damian Cupido and youngsters Ricky Dyson and Nathan Lovett-Murray have made way for the trio.

Essendon team:
B: McVeigh, Fletcher, Welsh
HB: Wellman, Lucas, Ramanauskas
C: McPhee, Misiti, Peverill
HF: Hird, Bolton, M.Johnson
F: Solomon, Lloyd, Rioli
R: Allan, Murphy, J.Johnson
Inter: Hille, Alvey, Bullen, Watson
Emer: Winderlich, Lovett-Murray, Henneman

In: Hird, Alvey, Watson
Out: Cupido, Dyson, Lovett-Murray (all omitted)