Essendon All-Australian Cale Hooker will most likely only have one VFL practice match before their round-one AFL blockbuster against Hawthorn.
While fellow key position player Michael Hurley is likely to play in their last pre-season match again Geelong this Sunday, the Bombers will be cautious with Hooker's return.
Hooker has missed Essendon's two narrow pre-season losses as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
Hurley suffered ankle injuries twice last month, most recently in their February 26 loss to Gold Coast, but Essendon expect he will be ready for the Bendigo game against the Cats.
Apart from being two of Essendon's most important players, Hooker and Hurley are also among the 10 Bombers returning from last year's season-long bans.
The year off means an extra element to their injury recovery.
After Bendigo, Essendon players can also seek permission to have a run in the VFL practice match against Geelong, a week before the March 25 AFL match against the Hawks.
"He'll certainly train this week, it's just whether we feel he's done enough football training to play," Bombers assistant coach Mark Harvey said of Hooker.
"If not, he'll certainly play the following week in the VFL.
"When you go through a rehab program, it's just to make sure you do the quality of football training, so you're ready for a game.
"He's been out for six or seven weeks now ... not cautious, just making sure he's ready for the duration of this season."
Harvey was more bullish about Hurley.
"My understanding is that he will play, pending training," he said
Harvey added they could have up to 10 players turning out in the VFL match.
Essendon's fortunes are tough to predict this season, given their unique circumstances, but Harvey likes how they are preparing.
"All I know is there's underlying ambition with this team," he said.
"Everyone knows we're all under pressure for spots ... and expectation.
"I'm pretty sure you'll find this group is going to challenge each other and we'll be a dangerous side throughout the course of the year."
Harvey said one of the keys would be how quickly their young players can become regular members of the senior team.
"Just the chemistry - and the reality is they still need to play a lot more football with each other," Harvey said.
"But their understanding of our game plan, the instruction, the communication that's been put forward at training ... we're going to be a well-organised team, put it that way."
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