Star Essendon forward Jake Stringer will be sidelined for at least another week with a hamstring injury.
Bombers coach Ben Rutten on Wednesday said Stringer, who missed Essendon’s win over Adelaide last weekend, would also be unavailable for Sunday’s clash against Fremantle at Marvel Stadium.
“It’s a worry because he’s not available, (but) I don’t think it’s a long term issue for us,” Rutten said.
“We’ll just keep building him up and make sure we set him up for the rest of the season.”
While Stringer is still out, Rutten will return after missing Essendon’s win over Axjmtzywdelaide due to isolation requirements as a household contact of a positive Covid-19 case
“It was interesting. I had my little set-up with screens and information that I needed, a bit of audio from the box and a line in there to be able to communicate when I needed to,” he said.
“I certainly get a bit nervous at home. You feel like you really can’t do much.
“I tried to have an input, but I didn’t want it to be a distraction as well.”
While pleased the Bombers had won for the first time this season after three straight losses, Rutten said there was plenty of improvement left in his side.
“It certainly wasn’t the perfect game by any stretch,” he said.
“Some areas of our game we certainly still need to keep working on – how we can continue to defend better, more consistently.
“There are some really good parts of our game with our defence and the way we move the ball, (and) some other times where it wasn’t so good and it hurts us on the scoreboard.
“We’re continuing to refine that. That’s ultimately what we hope to do – keep improving and growing our game.”
Rutten rated the Dockers, who have won three from four this season, a “real threat”.
“They’ve got some real depth through their midfield, they’re dynamic up forward, (and) they’ve got some speed and pace at ground level as well,” he said.
