Melbourne will welcome back four premiership players for their Round 12 clash against Sydney.
Demons coach Simon Goodwin has confirmed that Tom McDonald, Christian Salem, James Harmes and Ed Langdon will return to face the Swans.
McDonald (ankle), Harmes (hamstring) and Langdon (ribs) all missed Saturday’s loss to Fremantle, while Salem (knee) hasn’t played since Round 1.
“We’ll get four guys back this week, which will be great,” Goodwin told SEN Breakfast.
“Tommy McDonald, Christian Salem, James Harmes and Ed Langdon will all come back.”
Subscribe to the SEN YouTube channel for the latest videos!
Melbourne lost Steven May to concussion early in their loss to the Dockers. May will miss this week’s meeting with the Swans under the AFL’s concussion protocols.
The All-Australian defender collided heavily with teammate Jake Lever and was subbed out shortly after.
Goodwin admits May’s in-game injury was difficult to cover, especially with McDonald unavailable.
“I think when you head into a game you can plan for certain scenarios before the game if you know you haven’t got certain personnel,” the Demons premiership coach said.
“But when it happens in-game that’s where it’s a bit more challenging for you as a coaching group.
“Obviously losing Steven May early in the game, normally we’d have Tom McDonald, who we lost on the Friday heading into the game, who would go back for us.
“We had to readjust. We were a little bit light on for talls down back.
“To Fremantle’s credit, their system is very strong and to break down system you’ve got to win a lot of contests, whether it be air or ground, and we weren’t able to do that on the weekend.”
The top-of-the-table Demons (10-1) host the seventh-placed Swans (7-4) at the MCG on Saturday night.