Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin is weighing up whether to name three tall forwards for his side's Gather Round matchup against Essendon on Saturday.

The Demons' tall duo of Tom McDonald and second-year spearhead Jacob van Rooyen proved their worth in last Sunday's win over West Coast, booting four goals and two goals respectively in the 63-point victory.

Goodwin has confirmed that senior forward Ben Brown will be available for the trip to South Australia, creating a conundrum for the Demons coach to mull over ahead of selection.

Brown was sidelined for Melbourne's Round 4 trip to Perth with a back issue, opening up the chance for McDonald to land a recall after being demoted to the VFL while defender Harrison Petty has continued to be trialled in the forward third.

With Brown now back in the mix, Goodwin stated it was a good problem to have, with the Melbourne coach telling reporters on Wednesday he's confident in all three working together in attack.

"We've got a group of talls that are in good form," Goodwin said.ย "We'll have to make some decisions.

"It's really healthy. You saw what Tommy McDonald did last week.

"All those forwards are doing fantastic jobs.

"Tom and Ben have pretty much had some chemistry together for three years now and Jacob will just add to that.

"There's no doubt all those guys can play together. We're not scared of that at all.

"We generally play a stronger brand of footy when we've got the three talls functioning in the forward half of the ground."

The Demons will be forced into at least one change for Round 5, with premiership defender Michael Hibberd sidelined with an Achilles injury.

Star defender Jake Lever is no certainty of lacing up the boots either, with an ankle complaint potentially keeping the backman out of a trip to SA.

Should Lever miss this week's encounter with Essendon, Petty is likely to return to a backline role in a move that would alleviate any concerns for Goodwin's selection planning.

The Demons won't have midfielder James Harmes for a third successive week, with the hard-nosed onballer set to return through the VFL after missing the past two rounds due to personal leave.

Goodwin said the club are thrilled to have Harmes back training at Casey Fields, but a return to senior level will be on hold for another week.

"It's great for our footy club to get him back involved and back playing," Goodwin said.

"We need a really healthy James Harmes pushing for selection. He's a quality player that we need playing some really strong footy for us."

Melbourne and Essendon will clash at Adelaide Oval at 3:40pm local time on Saturday.