Essendon defender Michael Hurley suffers hamstring injury

ESSENDON has been hit with another injury setback, preparing to face Geelong without Michael Hurley on Saturday.

Michael Hurley of the Bombers.

ESSENDON has been hit with another injury setback, preparing to face Geelong without Michael Hurley on Saturday.

Hurley is expected to miss the clash with a minor hamstring strain after limping to the bench late against Carlton.

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With Carlton only 15 points up Hurley left the field at the 26-minute mark of a quarter that lasted for 34 minutes.

The Bombers are already without star full-forward Joe Daniher as they attempt to rebound from a horror start to the season.

They are 15th on the ladder with a percentage of just 83.9, now three wins and percentage out of the eight after only eight rounds.

Essendon could replace Hurley with one of key defenders Mitch Brown, Michael Hartley or Matt Dea given Geelong has a battery of marking forwards including Tom Hawkins, Stewart Crameri and Patrick Dangerfield.

Michael Hurley is set to miss Essendon’s clash against Geelong.

Aaron Francis, easing back into football after an extended break with mental health issues, was Essendon’s second-best player in its VFL win over Sandringham.

But it is not known if the Bombers are prepared to throw him back into the senior team so quickly upon his return to VFL football.

He has now played two full games at VFL level after winning eight possessions the previous week at half-back.

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The selection blowtorch has been applied to Jake Stringer, Darcy Parish and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti after recent poor performances.

Midfielder Dylan Clarke (36 possessions) was best afield in the VFL, followed by Francis, Jackson Merrett, Jordan Ridley and Kyle Langford.

Daniher, who refused to use his sore groin as a reason for his poor form, remains three or more weeks away from a return.

Apart from his absence, Essendon’s injury list is comparatively short, with Josh Green (hamstring), Josh Begley (knee), Travis Colyer (foot) and Martin Gleeson (ankle) the main absentees.

The club’s lack of stars in form, midfield struggles and inability to trap the ball inside its forward line have been more of a concern than a long injury list.

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