Fan-favourite Essendon forward Jake Stringer is expected to spend a stint on the sidelines following an ill-timed foot injury, while star defender Jordan Ridley's return timeline has become clear.
Stringer failed to complete main training on Thursday, consequently ruled out of the Bombers' all-important clash with the SydneySwans this Saturday night.
Essendon GM of performance Daniel McPherson is optimistic the All-Australian can return to the team in the coming weeks.
"Jake was restricted with discomfort in his plantar fascia this week during some speed running at training. He won't play this weekend, but we're hopeful the injury will recover quickly," McPherson stated in a club release on Thursday.
"We'll know more after he's had a few days off the foot, but the plan will be to de-load him, complete some cross-training in the meantime, and then start to reload the foot and progress him back into training reasonably quickly."
Addressing the media prior to Thursday night's team selection, Bombers coach Brad Scott was hesitant to go into detail regarding Stringer's playing status. However, he revealed that Stringer's selection would be based on his ability to produce peak performance at this late stage in the season.
"Jake's medically available, we've just got to assess whether he can perform somewhere near his best," Scott said.
"Like all coaches say, once you declare yourself fit to play, you're fit to play … But particularly at Round 20, every player has got a degree of 'fit to play.'"
Stringer will be joined on the sidelines by Ridley, who suffered a quad injury that will sideline him for the remainder of the season.
Jye Menzie, meanwhile, who has played in 16 games so far this season, will rejoin the Bombers' matchday squad ahead of this weekend's bout.
Essendon's meeting with Sydney is scheduled for 7:25 PM (AEST) on Saturday evening at Marvel Stadium.