Essendon is set to be bolstered by the return of influential forward Jake Stringer this Saturday when the Bombers look to spoil St Kilda's 150th birthday celebrations at the MCG.
Stringer has been plagued by a pre-season hamstring ailment, using the first round of the season to recover before testing his capabilities in a VFL hitout last weekend.
Coach Brad Scott met with reporters on Thursday, announcing he expects to select Stringer in his side for this Saturday's contest, but tempering expectations on the veteran goalkicker's output this weekend.
"He's just got to come in and play the role that we're asking him to," Scott said on Thursday.
"I mean, we anticipate we'll select him based on our main training session today.
"We've had a pretty strong mantra of 'system over personnel' and while it's nice to have a player of Jake's quality back in the side, we don't expect him to do any more or any less than anyone else.
"And it still leaves freedom for him to play to his instincts and to his strengths. That's what we've talked about all pre-season, that we want him to play to his absolute strength, which is strength and power.
"So, different people have different views on how he should be best played, but he's just got to fit in with our personnel and the system that we want within our personnel."
In a negative spin for the Bombers, key defender Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, who rolled his ankle in the waning stages of last weekend's win over the Gold Coast Suns and initially seemed unscathed, appears unlikely to play on Saturday after he was absent from training on Thursday.
Impressive midfield recruit Will Setterfield looks to have avoided a hamstring concern after he did not appear on the Bombers' injury list this week.
Essendon will do battle with St Kilda at the MCG at 7:25 PM (AEDT) on Saturday, April 1.
