DARCY Parish has had an injury setback, with the Essendon midfielder likely to miss at least the next month with a calf strain.
Parish was in line to play for the Bombers' VFL side in a practice match against Box Hill on Saturday, having not played any games this year so far after dealing with a back injury across the pre-season and early stages of 2025.
However those plans for the 2021 All-Australian have been delayed after the training injury this week, with the club not putting a timeframe on his return.
It continues a luckless run for the 27-year-old, whose clearance expertise and stoppage class has been missed by the Bombers so far this year.
Essendon recalled Archie Perkins from a quad injury and Will Setterfield for Saturday night's Gather Round clash with Melbourne, with Peter Wright expected to play some VFL game time this week after overcoming his ankle injury.
Nik Cox is also due to return to the field next week in the VFL after a pre-season interrupted by lingering concussion symptoms, while Kyle Langford is aiming for a return for Anzac Day against Collingwood following his round one hamstring tear.
