Essendon forward Joe Daniher could be set to make his return to action as early as next week after more than 12 months on the sidelines.

AFL reporter Tom Browne said on Triple M this morning that Daniher could return to the senior side pending on training this week.

Coach John Worsfold said post-game on Sunday that Daniher was "tracking well" towards making his long-awaited return, but failed to commit to a definitive timeline.

"His progression has been good," Worsfold said.

โ€œHe was progressing really well before he did his calf and heโ€™s now back starting to do full training loads which is great.

โ€œThat changes where everything is at and weโ€™ll just monitor him as we go.

โ€œWeโ€™ve got quite a few players that are working their backsides off to be available in coming weeks so weโ€™ll welcome any players as they start to come through these long-term injuries.

โ€œThereโ€™s a lot of measures the boys use what their current loads are in these shorter games and what the players have been doing in training loads. Joe is progressing really well.

โ€œI couldnโ€™t tell you right now what his training loads have been this week and whether they match up to game volumes.

โ€œIโ€™m going to be excited to hear about where he has progressed to.โ€™โ€™

The Bombers face Richmond at TIO Stadium on Saturday night at 7.40pm AEST.