Essendon has been hit hard by injuries early in their 2020 pre-season.
Cale Hooker (hip), David Zaharakis (knee), Joe Daniher (groin), Michael Hurley (shoulder), Orazio Fantasia (hip) and Matt Guelfi (knee) are all sidelined in a less than ideal situation for the club.
Speaking on SEN Breakfast fresh after re-signing for a further two seasons, captain Dyson Heppell says the injury troubles to key personnel has meant some of the inexperienced Bombers have had to step up in their absence.
Heppell himself has battled a foot problem that forced him to miss a few games towards the end of the 2019 season.
“I guess every club has their injuries as you go along,” Heppell said.
“We do have a few in the rehab group but we’re starting to phase a few of them into the main training squad now.
“It’s actually been a little blessing to be honest, we’ve had a majority of the young players really have to drive and lead the training sessions, so I reckon their development has been huge over the last five weeks.
“Most of us will be back in the swing of things early in the new year.”
Heppell hopes to return to full training in the new year as he continues his rehabilitation on his troublesome foot.
“The foot is tracking well,” he said.
“I’ll hopefully build up my running loads over this Christmas period and look to integrate back into full training in late January, early February.”
Heppell, 27, averaged 26.3 disposals and 3.8 clearances per game last season.
Listen to Heppell's chat on SEN Summer Breakfast below: