ESSENDON playmaker Dyson Heppell is shaping to return from a broken bone in his hand this weekend.
The Bombers face Carlton at the MCG on Saturday, when Heppell is set to return after one week on the sidelines.
However, with an elimination final almost certainly coming the following week there would be an obvious temptation to leave Heppell out of the side.
"He did some ball work (at training) this morning," Essendon coach Mark Thompson told Fox Footy on Monday night.
"I can't say he's definitely going to play, but what I've been told is he's really confident about playing."
Thompson suggested he would leave the decision up to the gifted 22-year-old and club doctor Bruce Reid.
"If he says he can play - he'd be confident about playing," Thompson said.
"Those two guys are the majority of the decision-making (process)."
Thompson advanced on his post-match comments from Saturday, when he hailed the Bombers' psychological strength to qualify for the finals given the club's long-running supplements saga.
"It was hard last year, but it's been a different hardness this year," he said on Monday.
"It's been one where it's probably got into their heads a bit more - you know, what does the future look like?
"If things are on people's minds, it certainly comes out in their game."
