THE BOMBERS plan to be without skipper Matthew Lloyd and midfielder Jason Winderlich for the critical match against the Brisbane Lions this week, but are optimistic of regaining Alwyn Davey and Mark McVeigh.

The club was hopeful all four would be available after missing last Sunday's away loss to West Coast, but coach Matthew Knights said Lloyd and Winderlich would need at least another week on the sidelines.

"Lloyd's come along quite well, but I would have thought this week would be close to out of the question, considering we're [playing] on Saturday night," Knights said on Tuesday, at the Bombers' indoor training session at Melbourne's Sports and Aquatic Centre.

"Davey and McVeigh will be up for selection and we'll have a look at them this afternoon.

"Both those boys are right in the mix to come in – I would have thought Alwyn would be a certainty – but we'll have to see how Mark trains and then have a look at that this afternoon."

Knights admitted it was an appealing prospect to play Lloyd anyway, given the crucial nature of Saturday night's game in regards to the Bombers' finals chances.

However, he said the fact the captain was still walking with a slight limp meant there wasn't much point in considering him as a starter.

"It's always tempting to play a champion player like Matthew, but I think the modern game really finds people out that aren't fit," he said.

"Matthew would have to be really fluent in his movements, and we don't think he's going to get to that point this week.

"We're more looking at the week after against the Saints."

Knights said young forward Jay Neagle would definitely hold his spot in the side after an encouraging performance against the Eagles.

He also denied his young players were running out of fitness towards the end of the season.

"We played pretty strong football up until three weeks ago, and even our first half against the Western Bulldogs was quite solid," he said.

"The last two weeks have been really disappointing. We've been beaten in the contested ball in both games."

Knights said critics were wrong for suggesting that Essendon's attacking game plan was unsustainable for an entire year of football.

He said last year's grand finalists both played a high-intensity brand of football last year, a style of football that suited Essendon's list.

"Geelong has played as up tempo as anyone in the last three or four years and rolled the ball along from marks or free kicks," Knights pointed out.

"We play a game style that suits our list, we're building, a lot of our guys are still young and getting their bodies right and putting some kilos on.

"We think it's a sustainable brand of football, and then as we're going, we're going to work on other sides of our game, so we'll end up with a nice balance in time."