Even though his side is only one win away from securing a top-eight position, James Hird remains undistracted by the prospect of making the finals in his first year as Essendon coach.

The message throughout 2011 from Windy Hill has been about improving and developing. Though he has admitted it's a boring line, Hird continues to push it to his players and the public.

On Sunday, however, Essendon can cement its finals spot with a win over Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium.

With the Bombers having the bye in round 24, a defeat of the 17th-placed Power would signal that the goal of long-term improvement hasn't come at the expense of short-term results.

""It's a good feeling to know that if you win you're in and you can manipulate your week over the next ten days,"" Hird said at Windy Hill on Friday.

""But we haven't even planned past Sunday, because we need to make sure we play the right way. If we play the right way, I think we should be OK.

""We can't afford to look past them because the consequences of losing that game or not, playing well in that game would mean there is no next week.""

Hird confirmed captain Jobe Watson and vice-captain Mark McVeigh would face the Power.

Watson has recovered well from concussion suffered in last week's loss to West Coast and McVeigh is eager to play after spending most of this week in Sydney to support brother Jarrad, who lost his baby daughter this week with heart complications.

""[Mark] came back into town last night and will use the next three days to prepare for the game,"" Hird said.

""I’ve only spoken to Mark on the phone in recent days and he’s desperate to play and really wants to play. It’s a very, very sad situation for the McVeigh family.""

Midfielder Sam Lonergan will also play for the Bendigo Bombers on Saturday, after making a quicker-than-expected recovery from a torn medial ligament.

However, Hird said there may be complications with his return coinciding with the VFL finals next week, which Lonergan has not qualified for.

""He’s come back quicker than we thought, which is a real positive,"" Hird said.

""We’ve got a bit of an issue next week with the VFL finals and whether he can play or not play and whether he’s qualified for those, but we hope that he can get a couple of games in and be up for selection.""

""I’m not sure the exact rules and whether we can apply for special consideration on a couple of players or not, and we’re still looking into that. But if there’s a player short of a run who hasn’t qualified with the minimum seven games, it’s disappointing.""