Cale Hooker is expected to be available when Essendon takes on Brisbane this Sunday.

The key forward injured his finger in the lead up to last week’s match against Sydney.

He has resumed modified ball work and will step up his training load in the lead up to the match against the Lions.

“Cale trained today one handed and on Thursday we’ll weigh up whether he trains one handed or two handed – potentially it’ll be a mix of both,” High Performance Manager Justin Crow said.

“We expect by the time we get to game activation (training) on Saturday and then the match on Sunday he’ll be available and ready to play well.”

Conor McKenna also injured his finger late in the match against the Swans, but there is no significant damage and he will line up against the Lions.

Jayden Laverde is a chance to play in the VFL after overcoming an ankle injury.

He has been sidelined since March but after some solid sessions on the training track is edging closer to a return.

“Jayden has now got two weeks of training under his belt and we’ve got another session on Thursday which he’ll need to get through well,” Crow said.

“He’s looking more and more likely to play some game time in the VFL this weekend and obviously we’re very excited for Jayden … his ankle has come along really well and we expect him to make an impact when he eventually does play.”

Darcy Parish and Mitch Brown have recovered well following their comebacks in the VFL on the weekend.

Parish picked up 27 possessions and got through a full match while Brown was on slightly modified game time but is expected to play a full game this weekend.

Patrick Ambrose is midway through his recovery from an aggravated quad injury and will be looking to make a return in about three weeks.

“We were always thinking around the six week mark would be the minimum and we’re still looking at that,” Crow said.

“He needs to get a scan probably in about a week’s time to confirm the healing.

“When we get that we’ll be a lot more confident with his exact time frame.

“But at the moment he’s getting close to joining back in training and in fact he did the warm up today.”