ESSENDON forward Mathew Stokes will be sidelined for at least the next three weeks after injuring his hamstring against Carlton.

The Geelong premiership star had been one of the Bombers' most consistent players in the opening six weeks of the season, averaging 19 disposals across half-forward. 

But they will be without his experience for several weeks, with the Bombers' high performance manager Justin Crow saying scans confirmed a hamstring strain.

"We've had Mathew Stokes' hamstring scanned - obviously during the game he had some discomfort and some tightness in it," Crow said.

"Unfortunately it does have a strain and he'll miss at least three games I would have thought."

The news was better for vice-captain Mark Baguley, however, with the small defender likely to return to face the Sydney Swans at the SCG on Saturday.

Baguley was withdrawn from the team to face the Blues with soreness, while Craig Bird is also set to be available after also failing to be fit to play against Carlton.

Top-10 draft pick Aaron Francis has been unavailable for several weeks with a calf injury, but Crow said the marking defender is edging closer to a return to training.

"Aaron is maybe three quarters of the way through his rehab now. He's doing quite a large volume of running and lots of cross-training," Crow said.

"He's really dropping his skinfolds and starting to look more like an athlete. We're really pleased with Aaron's progress."