Essendon will need a replacement for the suspended Nathan Lovett-Murray and may also lose fellow defender Courtenay Dempsey, who is battling an ankle injury.
Neither McVeigh nor Skipworth has played senior football since round four, when McVeigh hurt his ankle and Skipworth suffered a hamstring strain.
They returned on Sunday against the Coburg Tigers, and coach Matthew Knights said their experience could see them selected after just the one week in the VFL.
"They both got through the game really well, and more importantly, they were both doing some running yesterday and were feeling pain-free," he said on Tuesday.
"Both those guys, who are fairly mature in age and body and have played good footy for the club, are right in the mix.
"There's certainly some guys to bring in. Lovett-Murray and Dempsey, whether he comes up or not, they've both been playing great footy, so whoever comes in is going to have to shape up and have a really good impact straight away, because we need them to."
Lovett-Murray has accepted a three-week ban from the match review panel for his rough conduct against Richmond's Kayne Pettifer during Saturday night's Dreamtime at the 'G clash.
Dempsey remains in serious doubt for this Sunday's match.
"Courtenay is not a certain starter. We believed earlier in the week that he would have come up quicker, but he's a little bit sore today," Knights said.
"We'll give him every opportunity to come up but I wouldn't say he was certain starter at this stage. He'd have to improve fairly rapidly to make the line on Sunday."
Knights said Prismall, who has yet to debut for Essendon, would remain with the Bendigo Bombers.
Prismall, who had a knee reconstruction after an injury in Geelong's finals' campaign last year, was traded to Essendon in the off-season.
"Going on Alwyn Davey, he took six or seven weeks to really get going again after his reconstruction," Knights said.
"We've got to be really fair to Pris; it's a tough injury to come back from so we can't rush him back into the senior line up. We wouldn't be doing him justice whatsoever.
"When he comes into the line up, he's got to feel totally confident in his knee, in his match fitness to be able to run out games, and I think in the near future, he will be able to.
"I would have loved to put him in this week, for a little bit of a romantic side of it to play against his old team, and there's a little bit of a lure there but we've got to do the right thing by him."
Knights also confirmed Kyle Reimers made a successful return from quad tendonitis on Sunday in the VFL and would play again in the lower league this weekend, while Jason Laycock escaped his first game since round 20 last year with only some minor soreness.
Knights said two-time best and fairest winner Scott Lucas was also playing well in the VFL, but needed to demonstrate consistency across his whole game before earning a recall.
"Last week he kicked a couple of beautiful goals, long raking goals on the left foot, and he showed some signs, and then there were still some areas of his game that probably needed to be a touch better," he said.
"Playing with Bendigo when they're not going as flash as they would like, it's probably tougher for a forward.
"With our structure with Matthew Lloyd and Jay Neagle already in the line up and having two ruckmen, Paddy Ryder and Tom Bellchambers, we're probably comfortable with that at the moment.
"I'm open-minded about Scott, when he gets into that form that we're happy with, that opportunity will come, but it won't be this week."
He added young defender Michael Hurley's fractured scaphoid was a bitter blow for the Bombers, as he was on the verge of senior selection.
Meanwhile, midfielder Andrew Welsh is expected to be an inclusion in the VFL side this weekend after delaying his comeback from a dislocated ankle by a week.
