Forward Devon Smith will not return before Essendon’s round 13 bye after suffering a hamstring strain in the Bombers’ win over Fremantle on Sunday.

Smith sustained the strain only moments before the three-quarter time siren when having a long shot for goal, forcing the 27-year-old to be medically subbed out of the final quarter.

Head of high performance Sean Murphy said scans had confirmed Smith would not be available for selection over the next several weeks.

“Unfortunately, Dev had that hamstring strain in the last minute of the third quarter,” Murphy told Dons Digital’s Liberty Financial Performance Update.

“He’s had an MRI and he’s got a hamstring strain and we won’t see him before the bye, so it’ll be a bit of a lengthy rehab there.

“We should expect to see him after the bye.”

Forward Jake Stringer has made progress in his return from a hamstring strain after completing a high-volume running session at the NEC Hangar at the weekend.

Murphy said the rise in Stringer’s workload was a positive indication the 27-year-old was progressing in the right direction.

“‘String’ is tracking really well,” he said.

“He had a good volume session on the weekend, and we’ll just build him up over the next couple of weeks.

“All things are going really well. He’s in a short-term rehab and we should see him (return) over the next couple of weeks.”

Another piece of positive news is the advancement in star midfielder Dylan Shiel’s rehabilitation.

The 28-year-old will begin running in an anti-gravity machine following a quicker-than-expected improvement in the recovery of his knee injury.

“‘Dyl’ saw the surgeon ahead of schedule which is nice,” Murphy said.

“He’s doing all of his strength work and he’s got that up to a really good level.

“The plan this week will be to get him on our Alter-G, which is our anti-gravity machine which lifts a bit of body weight off the knee joint and allows you to run on a different percentage of your body weight.

“He’ll start on that this week and be there for a little bit which is really pleasing for Dyl.”

Murphy also touched on injury updates to Josh Eyre and Tom Cutler, while highlighting a stellar performance from Aaron Francis.

Watch round 10’s Liberty Financial Performance Update below.

INJURY LIST - ROUND 10