ESSENDON will call upon Jake Stringer against St Kilda but coach Brad Scott insists there is no pressure on the dynamic forward to star in his return.
Stringer missed the first two matches after a pre-season hamstring injury, building fitness in round one before playing VFL in round two.
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The Bombers are 2-0 but will welcome Stringer's explosiveness against Ross Lyon's unbeaten Saints at the MCG on Saturday night.
"He's just got to come in and play the role that we're asking him to," Scott told reporters.
"I mean, we anticipate we'll select him based on our main training session today.
"We've had a pretty strong mantra of system over personnel and while it's nice to have a player of Jake's quality back in the side, we don't expect him to do any more or any less than anyone else.
"And it still leaves freedom for him to play to his instincts and to his strengths. That's what we've talked about all pre-season that we want him to play to his absolute strength, which is strength and power.
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"So different people have different views on how he should be best played, but he's just got to fit in with our personnel and the system that we want within our personnel."
Scott will rotate Stringer between attack and the midfield depending on how the game plays out.
Forward Sam Weideman should return from the toe injury that ruled him out of their win over Gold Coast.
Weideman and Jye Caldwell spent time completing run-throughs at Thursday's training but joined in the main group and appear ready to go.
Defender Brandon Zerk-Thatcher (ankle) didn't train and is likely to miss.
There is bite to the game, with Kyle Langford earlier this week suggesting St Kilda had booked its 150th anniversary game against Essendon as it had pencilled in a win.
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Scott wouldn't be drawn on the narrative, stressing his players would earn respect with how they attacked the contest.
He will seek out Paddy Ryder, the Bombers' new manager of Indigenous player development, for tips on how to handle in-form Saints ruckman and former teammate Rowan Marshall.
"It's a nice little bit of intel for us," he said.
"Quite often 98 per cent of it is there for all to see – it's just that little two per cent of preferences of what they like and what they don't like.
"So Paddy will be a big help there."
Scott spoke to Dyson Heppell after substituting him in round two and stressed the former captain's spot wasn't under threat.
"He's a lock in our 18," he said.
