James Hird is nursing a strained calf muscle at the moment and is doing a modified training program. He didn't train this afternoon at the team's skills session at Windy Hill.
Dustin Fletcher was also a noticeable absentee from the track this afternoon even though Sheedy does expect the All Australian defender to be available for selection. ""Dustin's injury has been a little bit sorer than we first expected. We just can't take a risk on him,"" Sheedy said. The Bomber coach rated Joe Misiti as a 40% chance of playing but said both Damien Peverill (gastro) and Paul Barnard (suspension) are both expected to be included into the side.
""Barnard and Peverill are both available this week. It is a fair chance that they will both come in. Barnard was a really good player in the match he was outed. I thought he played very well and had a real physical presence in the game. He is fresh and not injured. Peverill is not playing as well as Barnard. He played quite well against Hawthorn at half back but he needs to lift.""
Essendon has struggled to have a full list to choose from at all this season. Similar to 2002 it has been plagued by injuries to high calibre players. ""It would be great to have a full list and every player has to fight to get a spot in the team. We haven't really had a lot of this year and it is Round 11 coming up and now the pressure is starting to set in so you want to have some good performances to keep your spot. Players that have been there every week might really get an enormous lift from Hird and Ramanauskas coming back because they are fresh. It is a bit of a balance issue,"" Sheedy said.
Essendon has been criticised for its inconsistency this season, however Sheedy is quick to point out that the inconsistency has a lot to do with the amount of players that have been rotated into the side due to injury, suspension and other factors. ""Some of these players have been inconsistent because they have had inconsistent selection. Some players have been out for two or three weeks and we have had to move the side around so the players haven't played together a hell of a lot. Have a look at David Hille. He has been inconsistent but perhaps for the better. He has played very well against Luke Darcy and then Michael Gardiner last week but he didn't play that well the week before,” Sheedy said. “That is just time and experience with young players coming through. When you lose a Hird, Ramanauskas, Lloyd, Mercuri, Misiti and Rioli - they are all sort of grand final players – it is going to affect your team. If you take six or seven of those guys out of any other team and they would be struggling as well,"" the four time premiership coach said.
