Essendon coach Brad Scott will keep Carlton guessing on whether key forward Peter Wright will return from injury in the blockbuster meeting between the arch-rivals.
The Blues' season is on the brink of collapse heading into Sunday's match at the MCG, after seven losses in their past eight games.
Wright's impeding comeback from a dislocated shoulder to bolster the Bombers' forward-line could make life even more difficult for Michael Voss' side.
The 203cm target trained fully last week but was left out of the six-point win over North Melbourne.
He will put his hand up again to play his first game of the season after winning Essendon's best-and-fairest and leading goal-kicker awards last year.
"There's no medical reason why he's not available but it's about risk and reward, and we'll continue to weigh up what that looks like," Scott said after the narrow victory over the Kangaroos.
"He's now at the stage where he's getting frustrated and he wants to play, so that's always a good sign.
"But we've been really consistent with our longer term injuries that we'd be really conservative in getting them back."
Essendon have a bye in round 14, meaning Wright would not return until at least the clash with Fremantle on June 24 if he misses out against Carlton.
Scott said off-season recruit Sam Weideman (13 goals, nine games) and utility Kyle Langford (20 goals, 11 games) had been "exceptional" in Wright's absence throughout the Bombers' impressive 7-5 start to the season.
"They've really held down key forward posts and been really threatening in their own right," Scott said.
"But even Kyle and Sam would say it would be nice to have Pete back."
Scott allayed injury fears over midfielder Dylan Shiel, who returned against North Melbourne after a fortnight on the sidelines but was substituted out.
Shiel, who had 10 disposals through three quarters, had ice on his troublesome ankle while sitting on the bench during the final term.
The substitution call paid dividends, with replacement Massimo D'Ambrosio kicking the match-winning goal with two minutes left.
"It was (Shiel's) first game back and to be honest we went through just about our entire team," Scott said.
"We had to make a decision to get Massimo into the game and he clearly had a big impact, ended up kicking a really important goal.
"It was just a process of elimination and everyone was pretty much important to us.
"It became, 'Shiel's missed the last couple so let's manage him back in'. It's nothing more or less than that."
