Essendon coach John Worsfold isn't counting on Melbourne's ruck crisis to be a major positive for his side in their AFL game on Sunday.
The Demons will be without injured pair Max Gawn and Jake Spencer as the club deals with a ruck dilemma similar to the one the Bombers encountered at the start of the season.
Matthew Leuenberger (hamstring) and Tom Bellchambers (knee) were sidelined for the opening two rounds and - much like Essendon did - Worsfold expects the Demons to make do with what they have.
"We won our two games when we didn't (have a recognised ruckman), so we certainly aren't thinking that makes it unwinnable for Melbourne," Worsfold told reporters on Thursday.
"It probably makes our planning a little bit more difficult in terms of how they're going to set up ... (but) we'll work out what they're doing on game day.
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"I don't think it will have a big impact on our preparation.
"You don't like to get injuries to any player or have any of your best players unavailable but it happens in this game.
"I think on one hand (Simon Goodwin) would rather have them all available but he'll also see it as a challenge to adapt and get the team up."
Key forward Jack Watts, while undersized at 196cm has pinch hit in the ruck in the absence of Gawn and Spencer and is expected to lead a patched-together Demons ruck division.
Essendon face a rare five-day turnaround after their confidence-boosting win over Collingwood on Anzac Day.
Worsfold elected to rest Leuenberger, along with James Kelly and Aaron Francis, with Bellchambers in for his first game of the season.
"He's looking great ... I talked about him last week and said that he was pretty much ready," Worsfold said of Bellchambers.
"Prior to that I'd been saying that we needed to get a few more miles into his legs but ... now it's just about us picking the best-balanced team we can."
The Bombers bounced back after a lean fortnight with the 18-point win over the Pies and will look to carry that form into the Etihad Stadium encounter.
"Coming off two losses just a little bit of doubt comes in but that (win) restores that belief," Worsfold said.
"We know we're on a bit of a rocky path but we've got a strong focus on where we want to get to.
"We'll have some ups and downs along the way but it was good to be able to put it all together."
Melbourne lost star forward Jesse Hogan to a family bereavement and Tim Smith to a rib injury.
Veteran Jordan Lewis returns after a three-match suspension, while Cameron Pedersen, Sam Weideman and Oscar McDonald are the taller options added to an extended squad.
