Long wait may be over for Winderlich

Essendon coach James Hird has revealed Jason Winderlich could play on Friday night against Geelong after a long battle to overcome a multitude of injuries.

The 27-year-old midfielder has not played since Round 4 of 2011 when he injured his ACL, which required surgery.

After battling a number of soft-tissue problems during his recovery, Winderlich has played the past two games for the Bombers' VFL affiliate Bendigo and could be picked to play the Cats.

"We'll see how he trains today," Hird said on Thursday.

"He's played two games in the VFL.

"There's no doubt Jason's an outstanding player and definitely good enough to be in the team.

"It's just whether we're doing the right thing by him playing him off a limited preparation."

Hird has defended his club's training regime as crucial for building towards the finals' series despite the Bombers' long injury list this season.

While the Bombers did make the finals in 2011, Hird's team lost in three of the last six rounds and were eliminated by Carlton in their elimination final and that end-of-season decline was the reason for Essendon's intense training methods this year and Hird does not regret his decision despite the Bombers' battle with soft-tissue injuries in 2012.

"(It was) The way we faded out in games that we were disappointed about and that's probably why our training regime is where it's at and why we've got some injuries because we've decided to go a way that we want to be able to compete at the end of games, not just the start of games," Hird said.

"And to do that you've got to train your players pretty hard."

Hird confirmed that Stewart Crameri (suspension), Angus Monfries (hamstring) and Winderlich are all ready to play the Cats.

And with Michael Hurley (hamstring), Patrick Ryder (calf), David Zaharakis (quadriceps) and Heath Hocking (suspension) all set to return over the next month, Hird believes it is all coming together for Essendon.

"Yeah, Crameri, Monfries, Winderlich are all up for selection this week, which is exciting for us having players come back in rather than go out...the next two or three weeks we'll hopefully have our full squad back together again," Hird said.