Jordan De Goey leaves the field with teammates after Collingwood's round five loss to West Coast at Optus Stadium on April 16, 2021. Picture: AFL Photos

COLLINGWOOD and Essendon both face selection dilemmas as they look to replace injured stars ahead of Sunday's Anzac Day blockbuster.  

As the AFL waits to see if its capacity crowd will be increased for the biggest home and away game of the season, the competing clubs will be weighing up big selections calls.

The Magpies will lose Jordan De Goey to the mandatory 12-day concussion protocol and will also be without defender Jeremy Howe who injured his hamstring and left the field in the hands of trainers. 

PLEASE EXPLAIN AFL wants answers after stars grab phones

And unless Mark Keane opts to challenge his one-match suspension for tripping in the loss to West Coast, the Pies will be forced into at least three changes.

01:37

Magpie mayhem with De Goey and Howe done

The Pies have suffered some serious injury blows with star players Jordan De Goey and Jeremy Howe ruled out of the game following these injuries

Darcy Moore would be an obvious contender to return to defence, while the Pies pushed key tall Will Kelly back in the VFL in a potential sign of what's to come. Nathan Murphy, who has been emergency on several occasions this year, is another who could plug a hole in defence.

Dumped forward Mason Cox booted two goals and will be in the conversation for an immediate recall, while Ollie Henry was also lively with two majors.

Will Hoskin-Elliott kicked one goal after he was managed from the Perth trip following the birth of his daughter, but Trey Ruscoe was quiet after returning from the west as the travelling emergency.

Should the Pies look to bolster their midfield, medical substitute Brayden Sier and emergency Tyler Brown will be front of mind, while uncapped second-year onballer Jay Rantall picked up 25 disposals in the VFL.

The Bombers were also left counting the cost of their 57-point loss to Brisbane, with reigning best and fairest winner Jordan Ridley suffering a concussion early in the game.

00:30

Ridley out of game with concussion

Jordan Ridley has been subbed out of the game with concussion after copping this accidental elbow from Eric Hipwood

The important defender was substituted out of the game after quarter-time and will also need to serve his compulsory time on the sidelines after the head knock.

It will leave the Bombers to consider their options in the back half, with Brandon Zerk-Thatcher a potential inclusion after he was dropped for the Lions' clash.

Zerk-Thatcher had 22 disposals and 11 marks in the Bombers' VFL loss on the weekend, while the club will also discuss changing its talls structure with rucks Andrew Phillips and Nick Bryan pressing to be included.

Phillips booted two goals in the VFL and last year impressed in his battle with Collingwood counterpart Brodie Grundy in the Bombers' win over Collingwood early in the season. 2009 Anzac Day hero David Zaharakis could also be considered, having been the unused medical substitute in round four. 

The AFL successfully trialed new contract tracing systems for its ticketing in two games in round five, with fans who purchased tickets required to enter the name and phone number of every person attending rather than a single attendee's details.

The crowd for the MCG is capped at 75 per cent – or approximately 75,000 – with the League waiting on state government approval for it to be lifted to a full house.