Essendon fans may not have Conor McKenna around for much longer as dreams of playing Gaelic football pull him back home.

The 24-year-old still has plans to pull on the red slash for the 2020 season but has cast doubt on his future in Australia. McKenna is currently back home with family during the AFL shutdown. He had previously returned to Ireland in February during the preseason.

"I will be home in the next few years," McKenna told the BBC overnight.

"Whether it's this year or next year I'm just not sure at the minute.

"It's been five-and-a-half years now and I always think about the opportunity to come back.

"I didn't grow up dreaming about playing AFL. I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity at the minute, but I did grow up dreaming of playing for Tyrone, win Ulsters, win All-Irelands," McKenna said.

McKenna said he hopes he will be able to play for his town of Eglish before considering taking the step up and playing for County Tyrone.

In 2014, McKenna knocked back the opportunity to join Tryone's senior squad after a promising junior career to join the Bombers.

He debuted for Essendon in 2015 and has played 73 games. In 2019, McKenna finished fourth in the club's best and fairest after an impressive year of football. McKenna signed a four-year deal with the Bombers in 2017, tying him to the club until the end of 2021.

McKenna didn't play any Marsh Community Series matches this pre-season, but did join Essendon's VFL side for a practice match in Colac where he played in both attack and defence.

He wasn't picked for the Bomber's round one side, prompting coach John Worsfold to reveal post-match the tug of war between McKenna's desire to play forward and the club's interest for him to play in defence.

Speaking on Wednesday, Worsfold said he was expecting to see McKenna return later this year.

"I'm pretty confident. It's not the end of 2020 yet. There's a lot of footy left to be played hopefully this season. I think Conor was up and ready to go," he said.

"My expectation is that he's really keen and he'll be over there [in Ireland] following a training program and looking forward to getting back over here and getting into it."