Essendon skipper James Hird went a long way to proving he is back to full fitness by completing a full training session at the MCG this afternoon.

The Bombers had a closed training session at the MCG today and Hird trained extremely well for the entire 70 minutes.

Essendon football manager Matthew Drain said the side trained very impressively this afternoon. "They really worked hard - it was short and very sharp," Drain said.

A number of players are pushing for selection this weekend with a minimum of two players certain to miss from last week's side - John Barnes (suspension) and Dean Rioli (broken collarbone).

Sean Denham played exceptionally well in the reserves last weekend and could well be included.

Mark Bolton is another whose form in the VFL side continues to push his name in front of selectors.

Paul Barnard is likely to return after spending a week in the reserves while Hird's condition will be assessed later in the week.