Injured Essendon defender Jordan Ridley has suffered a fresh setback in his rehabilitation for a quad injury, with the Bombers stopper potentially facing a further five weeks on the sidelines.
Ridley injured his quad during the club's pre-season meeting with Geelong, with the Bombers diagnosing the injury as a 'low-grade strain' at the time.
The 25-year-old was in line to return as early as Round 5 against the Bulldogs, however a setback in his recovery is set to delay those plans.
Following Friday's loss to Port Adelaide, coach Brad Scott confirmed Ridley had suffered a "recurrence" of his recent quad strain and will face a similar period on the sidelines from when he first suffered the injury.
"He's had a recurrence of the quad. So what that means in terms of how long it'll be; clearly when you have a recurrence of exactly the same injury It's going to be at least as long as we suspected the first time around," Scott said.
The Bombers' backline has already been hit with multiple setbacks this season as Zach Reid (hamstring) and Kaine Baldwin (foot) currently deal with ailments of their own.
Midfield pair Sam Durham (concussion) and Dylan Shiel (oblique) are listed to be at least one week away from returns, while the Bombers could regain attacking pair Matt Guelfi (calf) and Tex Wanganeen (foot) in the next fortnight.
Guelfi has dealt with a "slow" and "frustrating" recovery, which has seen his minor calf issue balloon into a month-long injury.
"My information is that he's just slow in his progression from what we described," Scott revealed.
"He had a minor calf issue Round 1, so minor that he didn't know he'd hurt his calf after the game. Scans showed some muscle damage and it's just it's not progressing as our medical team would have expected.
"It hasn't healed so it's very frustrating."
Following Essendon's Gather Round clash with Port Adelaide, Scott's side will return to Melbourne for a meeting with the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium next Friday night.
