MATHEW Stokes will miss at least another week but Courtenay Dempsey could return for Essendon's Dreamtime at the 'G clash on Saturday night.

Stokes strained his hamstring in the round six loss to Carlton while Dempsey last played against the Sydney Swans in round seven.

"They've got to do a bit of work yet to tick the box to be available," coach John Worsfold said at training on Tuesday.

"Stokes – my guess is no.

"Courtenay is well and truly in the mix."

Indigenous jumpers revealed

Dempsey missed the first three matches of the year after being suspended for a driving tackle on Richmond's Brett Deledio late last season.

Fellow defender Aaron Francis represented Essendon for the first time last Sunday, playing in the VFL. Drafted at No. 6 last year, Francis has been held back with a calf tear.

Worsfold said the 18-year-old would have to bide his time before making his senior debut.

"I haven't seen any of his game yet, but for that week it (was about) getting through a certain workload," Worsfold said.

"I don't have any idea of how long (he'll spend in the VFL). I would guess it would be at least three to four weeks, and maybe longer, depending on the continuity of his training loads."

The Bombers faced a big game on Anzac Day and did not rise to the challenge, conceding eight goals in the first quarter to a Collingwood outfit that entered the match with a 1-3 record.

Worsfold said his team would draw from that experience.

"The players learnt a lot from the Anzac Day game," Worsfold said.

"We had a lot of players playing in their first Anzac Day game and (they) probably didn't embrace the excitement of it as much. They tried to stay calm.

"It will be interesting to see what they have learned from that."

The clash against Richmond will be the coach's 500th official match this week. He is just the 18th person in AFL/VFL history to achieve the mark.