HEATH Hocking will still return to Essendon's midfield this week, despite being bitten on the face by teammate Kyle Reimers' dog on Monday. 

Hocking was at Reimers' house on Monday night when he bent down and the dog leapt and bit him on the cheek.

Hocking required two stitches to the cut from the club's doctors and also had a tetanus vaccination to avoid any infection from the bite.

"It was all very precautionary, but we've got to be careful of these things," Essendon football manager Paul Hamilton told AFL.com.au.

Hocking missed the Bombers' win over Port Adelaide last weekend having been concussed in the opening minute of the club's round one meeting with North Melbourne.

Though the bite is another head injury for Hocking, Hamilton said the 24-year-old would be fine to face Gold Coast on Saturday night.

"He's right to go," Hamilton said.

"The boys have just come off the training track and he's trained well, so he's ready to play."

Callum Twomey is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.