ESSENDON defender Matt Guelfi has been cleared on any structural damage and will fly back to Melbourne on Friday.

Guelfi was sent to hospital for precautionary scans on Thursday night during the Bombers' loss to the Eagles.

He was pushed by Jeremy McGovern as he kicked, crashing into the Optus Stadium fence and also a plastic chair. McGovern was reported for the incident.

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The West Australian local was taken to hospital in a taxi along with his parents and a club representative for scans on his ribs and upper abdomen.

Matt Guelfi is helped by trainers after crashing into the fence. Picture: AFL Photos





Essendon coach John Worsfold said Guelfi didn't require an ambulance.

"If this game was in Melbourne, he wouldn't have gone to hospital tonight (Thursday), he would have gone the next morning. But because we have to fly home tomorrow, we have to get the scans done tonight, so we just chose to send him off," he said.

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"It's not the protocol to put the non-emergency situation in the ambulance at the ground, that needs to be here for an emergency.

"If we were going to use it for a non-emergency, we would have had to wait for another ambulance to come and be here. So the taxi was the quickest and best option."

Jeremy McGovern has been placed on report for this incident with Matt Guelfi.#AFLEaglesDons pic.twitter.com/SUcIIz7BRw — AFL (@AFL) June 20, 2019

Worsfold said Guelfi reported back and neck pain from the incident.

"He's getting some scans or X-rays, I'm not sure exactly what, just to check if he's got any injury to his upper abdominal area," he said.

"He felt as if he'd hurt his back and neck in the crash, so they're just double-checking that so we can find out if he's OK to fly home.

"That's the main thing, he's going to catch a plane tomorrow, we need to know that's all safe for him."

Lively forward Orazio Fantasia had a very quiet night, recording six disposals and one tackle and forced to the wing later in the match.

Worsfold revealed there may have been a reason behind his low numbers, saying Fantasia had been playing under duress.

"It's some soreness that he's had for a while. Trying to get on top of it while he's still holding up, but we'll just assess how he's pulled up after this game," he said.

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The Bombers are unsure as to whether they will regain mercurial forward Jake Stringer, who missed the game with a leg injury.

"It's an injury that we’re rapt he's not out for long-term, but when he's actually able to train flat out is a bit of an unknown," Worsfold said.

"It could be this week, but he may not get up for the game, we don't know yet."

Saad's spoil was deemed legal and the Bombers flew forward towards goal! #AFLEaglesDons pic.twitter.com/7NctkFgPs2 — AFL (@AFL) June 20, 2019

The Bombers were comprehensively outplayed for most of the match, particularly the second quarter, and were let off somewhat by some highly inaccurate kicking from the Eagles (14 goals and 22 behinds).

"I was really disappointed with the way we coped with the pressure they brought. They're an awesome footy team, we got a lesson from them in that regard and we didn't cope that well with it," Worsfold said.

"There's no doubt across the board we were a little bit off, maybe a fair bit off, playing the way we wanted to play tonight. That might be the opposition's pressure, and all credit to them, but it may be something about our preparation, I'm not really sure. We'll work through all that."