The Bombers' injury nightmare has worsened as defender Jordan Ridley "almost certainly" suffered a hamstring strain in Essendon's 93-point loss to the Bulldogs on Friday night, according to Essendon senior coach Brad Scott.
Ridley was subbed out of the match during the second quarter with hamstring tightness, but a candid Brad Scott said post-game that the setback is feared to be worse than initially suggested.
"[Ridley] has a hamstring strain almost certainly," Scott said.
"We subbed him out immediately. When he feels his hamstring, there's no point in sugar-coating it. He'll go get it scanned, and I hope to god I'm wrong, but I doubt it.
"It's incredibly frustrating, devastating, all the words you can possibly think of to describe it.
"But as repetitive as it sounds, there are plenty of examples through the competition of players who just had to fight setback after setback after setback.
"When you can come through it, you come through it a more resilient player and more resilient person.
"We rate him so highly, he's so important to our club, we'll support him through whatever it is. Hopefully I'm wrong [about the severity], but when he feels his hamstring go then I think it's pretty obvious."
If Ridley's concern is confirmed to be a hamstring strain, he'll become the 16th player currently on the Bombers injured list, further spotlighting concerns surrounding the club's medical department.
It would also be his second hamstring strain this season, suffering a high-grade strain against North Melbourne in Round 8.
Ridley had become a mainstay in the Bombers defensive 50 since returning from said injury in Round 17, averaging 20.3 disposals at 88% efficiency as well as 8.7 marks per game, over half of which were intercepts.
His absence will likely be significant as the Bombers search for positives in the remaining four weeks of the season.
The depleted Bombers travel to Sydney to take on the Swans on Saturday next weekend.
