Essendon midfielder David Myers will miss his side’s round one clash with Adelaide at Etihad Stadium with calf tightness.
Teammate Ben McNiece will also miss with a hamstring injury, while young gun Darcy Parish has been cleared to play in the opening round matchup.
The trio underwent scans on Monday with Myers and McNiece receiving the bad news according to Bombers physical performance manager Justin Crow.
"Dave Myers had calf tightness. His scan showed no sign of any muscle tear, which was a good thing, however he won't be available for the game," Crow told essendonfc.com.au.
"McNiece's scan showed some mild upper hamstring irritation around where it inserts into the bone at the top of the pelvis and he also will not be available this weekend."
Myers was prominent in Essendon’s JLT Community Series clash against Geelong, racking up 18 disposals, six clearances, six tackles and five inside 50s.
McNiece was touted as a candidate to lockdown Adelaide’s Eddie Betts on Friday night, but his injury opens the door for Mark Baguley to return to the senior side.
Crow said livewire forward Orazio Fantasia was recovering well from his minor knee surgery, although will not be available to play the Crows.
"He has just started running at the start of this week, we’ll be building him up as he’s able," Crow added.
"The key thing with Orazio is that he's obviously a high-speed and high-volume player on match day and we need to make sure that we get enough work into him that he’s ready to play when he does return.”
Key defender Mitch Brown has overcome a groin issue and will be available as a potential replacement for Patrick Ambrose, who fractured his scaphoid and will be sidelined for a lengthy period.
Crow was pleased with the progress of Jayden Laverde and Kobe Mutch after they joined in parts of Tuesday’s main training session.
Speedster Travis Colyer, who had surgery on his foot in February, is due to start running next week.
