Essendon star Darcy Parish is set to miss the next month of action due to a calf strain.
The Bombers' onballer missed multiple weeks with a calf complaint sustained in his side's Round 13 loss to Carlton, an injury that saw him subbed out of the Blues bout and subsequently sidelined for further matches against the Eagles and St Kilda.
Parish returned to Ben Rutten's side in Round 16 to take on the Swans, an encounter the Bombers prevailed in while Parish seemingly got through unscathed.
However, a mid-week niggle with a troublesome calf has ruled Parish out of the next month of action.
“Darcy presented with soreness in his calf, in a different area to where he experienced a cork in recent weeks. As a result, we got the area scanned which has come back to reveal a strain,” Bombers football boss Josh Mahoney told essendonfc.com.au.
“We remain hopeful that Darcy will be in a position to return to play before the end of the home-and-away season, and we will closely monitor his recovery in this time to make that assessment.”
The 24-year-old was named to face Brisbane at the Gabba on Sunday, with Rutten listing no omissions from his side that defeated the Swans last Saturday afternoon.
Essendon are set to announce their 22-man side to face the Lions at 5pm on Friday evening.
Trio Andrew McGrath, Brayden Ham and Alec Waterman were the named inclusions for Rutten's side, with the latter duo named on the extended bench.
Jake Kelly, Jye Caldwell, Andrew Phillips, Sam Durham, Jordan Ridley and Will Snelling are also listed on the eight-man interchange.
After trimming their extended bench to four on Friday, the Bombers will confirm their final side one hour before Sunday's bounce, along with their medical substitute.
The Lions, who are heavily undermanned due to injury and COVID protocols, will host Essendon at the Gabba, with the game to commence at 1:10pm (AEST) on Sunday.
