Essendon could be buoyed by the return of a number of star players following this week’s bye with several Bombers closing in on full fitness.

Club GM of football Dan Richardson says leading onballer Dylan Shiel is a near certainty to take the field against Hawthorn after the short break, while versatile Bomber Jake Stringer is also on track.

The duo suffered hamstring injuries in the side's loss to Richmond in the Dreamtime at the 'G clash in round 10, but recent signs have been positive ahead of the important match.

“They’ve both worked really hard in the last couple of weeks and are pretty much both back to full-speed running,” Richardson said on the SKINS Injury Update on Wednesday.

“Dylan, I would say, is almost a certainty to be available and Jake we will still monitor but (he is) likely.”

Jake Stringer is likely to put his hand up for selection next week. (Image: AFL Photos)

Star forward Orazio Fantasia is also in the mix to take on the Hawks after continuing his good progress as he recovers from a quad strain suffered against Sydney in round eight.

“He’s progressing well with that quad injury and trained back to close to full-speed running. 

“We’ll see how he goes next week at training but will look to progress reasonably quickly.”

Hard-running forward Mitch Brown didn’t take the field last week after failing to overcome soreness in his wrist, but Richardson said managing Brown was precautionary.

“He just had a little bit of soreness in his wrist that he broke a few weeks ago – no further fractures or anything serious – but it was just a bit tender.

“We thought we’d give it another week, but expect him to be available as well.”

Another Bomber who exited the weekend under an injury cloud was key defender Patrick Ambrose, who played out the clash against Carlton with soreness.

“He was a bit sore. He got a knock to his hip/glute area but seems to be recovering well and we’d expect him to be available next week,” Richardson said.

Patrick Ambrose is expected to be given the all clear ahead of the Bombers' clash with the Hawks. (Image: AFL Photos)

Tall forward James Stewart is on track to make his long-awaited return from a groin injury and is expected to train fully with the main group next week, while young midfielder Kobe Mutch continues to move forward in his rehabilitation from a serious hamstring injury.

“Kobe’s worked really hard on his rehab, so he is coming up to a full return and full-speed training as well, which is great.

“It will be great to see him back in the coming weeks as well.”

Richardson said recent surgery for Joe Daniher (groin), Devon Smith (knee) and Sam Draper (knee) have all been judged successful to date with the latter pair already spotted back at The Hangar to kick off their long journey back to the field.

“For all three the surgery seems to have been successful. It’s early days for all three, so they’re in that early stage of rehab and still a bit sore.

“I saw ‘Drapes’ walking around the other day off the crutches already from a knee reconstruction, so that’s pretty swift. ‘Dev’ has been in at the club doing some early stages of rehab as well.

“They’re all long-term injuries, so you can’t put a timeframe on it, but from all accounts the surgeons are happy with the work they did so far and we’ll go from there.”

All players will return from their break at the end of the week ahead of the side’s important meeting with Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium next Friday.