Essendon is expected to welcome back both Orazio Fantasia and Cale Hooker in the next two weeks, while captain Dyson Heppell is making a quicker recovery than expected from an ankle injury.
Both Hooker and Fantasia are currently on the sidelines due to respective calf complaints, but Essendon head of medical services David Rundle forecasted they could return to the side in a matter of weeks.
“Both Cale and Orazio are doing very well," Rundle told essendonfc.com.au.
"Whilst they both do have calf strains, their pathologies are somewhat different, so they’re being managed differently with their programs.
“They’ve both commenced running and they’ll need to build their running loads over the next week or so before they re-join with the main group."
Heppell, who has suffered a wretched injury run of late, has been on the sidelines for six weeks following a serious ankle injury and Rundle said he was progressing “faster than expected".
“It’s been six weeks now since Dyson fractured his ankle and had surgery,” he said.
“He’s probably progressed faster than what I expected from last week and he’s commenced running now, so things are looking good for him.
“It will be another three to four weeks in building his running loads before he joins in with the main group.”
Rundle also said that Joe Daniher was making “excellent” progress in his recovery from a calf injury, with the important forward set to return to main training this week.