Adam McPhee was a nervous man in the Bombers’ coaches’ box on Saturday. The 21-year-old watched his teammates do battle against Melbourne and could hardly contain himself in the dying minutes when the result could have gone either way. Luckily for McPhee he and the Bombers have lived to fight another day after Essendon got across the line by five-points.

McPhee is on track to return this weekend for Essendon’s cut-throat semi-final against Geelong at the MCG. McPhee has missed the last two weeks with a hamstring strain and football operations manager Dominic Cato said earlier today that he is a likely inclusion this week.

""There is an expectation that Adam will be available to play this week and we will give him every opportunity to prove his fitness,"" Cato said.

""It will be 21 days on the day of the match since he strained his hamstring, which is the correct recovery period for the injury. We just have to wait and see how he progresses over the course of this week.""

Cato wasn’t as confident about Dean Rioli’s availability. Rioli was a late withdrawal from last Saturday's final with hamstring soreness. ""We will review Dean’s condition during the week and we are hopeful that he will come up and be available,"" Cato said.

Bomber veteran Joe Misiti has recovered from his knee injury and is available for selection. Cato said the medical staff expects Misiti to train in full this week. Also available is Andrew Lovett, who has served a two-match suspension for striking.

Cato also confirmed that Mark Bolton (buttocks) is available for the semi final against Geelong. ""I don’t think there is too much in Mark’s injury. It is not a condition that will keep him out of Saturday’s match.""

The Bombers will train today at Windy Hill at 3pm. Training for the remainder of the week is to be confirmed. Click here for ticket information for the Geelong v Essendon final.