Essendon coach John Worsfold admits injuries have forced him to make running repairs to his forward line this season but at least Joe Daniher is back to form the foundation of the Bombers' attack against Fremantle.
The towering forward was rested for the contentious loss to Sydney and is set to return to face the Dockers at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, along with Mark Baguley.
"We haven't really been able to get our core group together regularly this year, but getting Joe back is one part of that," Worsfold said.
"The absolute best teams when they're at their best generally have guys who have played a lot of footy together over a long period of time.
"This year we haven't been able to get that ... there are some new faces that we're trying to work through there.
"We've got a clear idea of what we want to build to, but it's a bit of 'fix it as we go' at the moment."
The revolving door in the front half has continued to turn for Essendon, who are set to lose Devon Smith to a recurring knee injury.
Orazio Fantasia (quad) was another casualty from the loss to the Swans at the SCG, the classy forward not expected back until after the bye.
The duo join an injury list that includes Shaun McKernan (hamstring), Mitch Brown (wrist), Martin Gleeson (cheek) and James Stewart (groin).
Essendon have slipped to 13th with a 3-5 record but Worsfold said getting a win this week was no more important than any other.
"The urgency's always there," he said.
"You keep an eye on where the gaps are in terms of the ladder, but our absolute focus has to be on how we play this week."
