Essendon will welcome back small forward Alwyn Davey ahead of this week’s crucial clash against Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday night.
Matthew Knights told the media this morning that the 25-year-old would be a major boost to the side and that Mark McVeigh would also be considered for selection.
“I would think that Davey would be a certainty to come back into the side this week,” he said.
“We will see how Mark [McVeigh] trains this morning. They are both certainly in the selection mix, which we will look at when we sit down this afternoon.”
Knights also said that Matthew Lloyd and Jason Winderlich are yet to overcome injuries and will be on the sidelines for at least another week.
“Matthew would be a very small chance to play, but I would be more inclined to say it would be out of the question his week considering we are playing on Saturday night.
“He is coming along well but we don’t think he would be in the calculations this week.
“I think it is always tempting to play a champion like Matthew but in the modern game if you’re not fully fit you get found out pretty quick.
“Matthew would have to be really fluent in his movement to be considered and we don’t think he is going to get to that point this week.
“Winderlich is also unlikely to play; he looks like he will need another week to get his body right.”
Knights flagged Jay Neagle as someone who has earned his spot in this week’s team, comparing him to a young ‘raw’ Scott Lucas or Matthew Lloyd.
“I think Jay was better on the weekend, he showed some promise but still has a lot of areas to work on before he reaches his full potential,” he said.
“He is a young player and is raw out there but that is ok - the champions of the game such as Lloyd and Lucas, they were once young and raw too and look what they developed into.
“Jay definitely did enough in my mind to play again this week. He is a young man finding his way in the game but he got off his man and kicked three goals.
“Our biggest haul of goals for the year has been five and for him to kick three was really good.
“We have a lot of faith in him as a young player coming through and he will definitely play again this week.”
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