Newly re-signed forward Will Snelling is a strong chance to return to Essendon's line-up this week as he progresses from a thumb injury.

The 23-year-old suffered the injury in the Bombers' round 11 win over West Coast and has maintained a strong fitness base while re-integrating into ball work.

Head of high performance Sean Murphy said Snelling was likely to face Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Friday night, pending his ability to complete this week’s training.

“'Snell' is going really well. He did a really solid session on the weekend at game loads,” Murphy told Dons Digital’s Liberty Financial Performance Update.

“He’s a test this week and he’ll do some ball handling, making sure he’s really comfortable with that and he’ll be a good chance to play this weekend.”

Essendon’s ruck stocks have taken a hit with reliable tall Andrew Phillips suffering a hamstring injury in the VFL Bombers’ loss to Casey on Sunday.

The 29-year-old, who has featured six times for the Bombers in 2021, will miss several weeks.

“Unfortunately, Phillips injured his hamstring early in our VFL game against Casey,” Murphy said.

“He’ll now go into a rehab process and miss a few weeks.”

Midfielder Dylan Shiel is making a steady progression from a knee injury sustained in round two against Port Adelaide.

Murphy said the 28-year-old was progressively increasing his running and strength work.

“‘Shiely’ continues to progress from a rehab perspective,” Murphy said.

“He’s just in a holding pattern with his running volumes and he keeps progressing his strength stuff at the moment.”

Murphy also touched on injury updates to Andrew McGrath, Jye Caldwell, Cody Brand and Kaine Baldwin, while also highlighting stellar high-performance efforts from defenders Jordan Ridley and Mason Redman.

Watch round 15’s Liberty Financial Performance Update below.

INJURY LIST - ROUND 16