Essendon coach John Worsfold says the Bombers are still tossing up their ruck options ahead of Saturday afternoon’s huge clash with Sydney at the MCG.

A six-week calf injury to regular first-choice ruck Tom Bellchambers forced the side to be flexible in its sensational comeback victory over Greater Western Sydney last week, with forward Shaun McKernan and regular defender Cale Hooker sharing the duties in the ruck.

Sticking with that formula, which proved remarkably successful in the final term against the Giants, remains a possibility for the team this week, but Worsfold is also considering bringing in specialist ruck recruit Zac Clarke.

“We’ve got a couple of options we’ve put a fair bit of thought into from our end with Zac Clarke available, plus the way we used McKernan last week,” Worsfold said on Wednesday.

“They’re the options that we’re going to weigh up, but we need to get through training today, see who is sound and ready to go across the whole board and that will dictate the team that we go with.

“Zac’s been great in terms of understanding the role he’s been playing for us this year; being fit, available and ready to go.

“His attitude’s been great, he’s fit and ready to go and, if selected, we’re confident he’s going to perform well for us.”

Worsfold said he also has a number of options for where to utilise Hooker after the experienced Bomber put together a monstrous final term when thrown forward in a last-ditch attempt at an unlikely victory.

Hooker booted two goals and set up one more in the last quarter as the Dons chased down the Giants, but Worsfold said Hooker is one of many versatile defenders capable of having an impact in the forward line.

“Michael Hurley can go forward, we have shifted Conor McKenna forward a couple of times. We’ve got various things we can go to, it’s all going to be game-scenario based.”

Sydney has its own concerns with its rucking brigade, with big men Callum Sinclair, Sam Naismith and Darcy Cameron all on the sidelines with injury.

It leaves mid-season rookie recruit Michael Knoll as the club’s only fit ruckman, but the Swans similarly displayed their flexibility last week with intercepting defender Aliir Aliir playing a key role in their defeat of Gold Coast.

“I’m not sure (what Sydney will do),” Worsfold said.

“We just saw what they did last week with Aliir. We don’t really have too much control over what Sydney is going to do, but we’ll go in with a ruck combination that we think will work for us.”

Aliir Aliir is looming as a vital part of Sydney's side on Saturday. (Image: AFL Photos)

The Bombers could be boosted this week with Jake Stringer (leg) and Matt Guelfi (rib cage) in the mix to put their hand up for selection.

Worsfold said Guelfi is “feeling really good”, while Stringer’s possible inclusion will rely on how he recovers from Wednesday’s main training session.

“(Stringer is) not ruled out this week, so that’s a good sign,” he said.

“He’s done some running earlier in the week and was feeling pretty good, so he’ll do some training today as part of them assessing where he’s at and how he pulls up from that.

“He’s a chance this week, but he needs to be confident that he can play out a full game, that’s what he’s got to try to assess.”

The team will be announced at 6:20pm on Thursday.