ESSENDON will persist with Jake Carlisle as a forward as it searches for more goals, with coach James Hird confident the important Bomber is about to hit his straps.
 
Carlisle will return for the Bombers for Sunday's meeting with the Brisbane Lions after missing last week's loss to North Melbourne due to a neck injury he suffered at training.
 
He has trained fully this week with the Bombers and took part in the club's session at Tullamarine on Friday, and Hird confirmed Carlisle, Paul Chapman and Adam Cooney will all face the Lions after injury stints.
 
Hird said he hadn't discussed the option of moving Carlisle back to defence to find some confidence, despite the 23-year-old's most consistent season coming as a key defender in 2013 under Hird.
 
"Jake's committed to playing forward and he's doing a relatively good job," Hird said.
 
"You've got to remember Jake had a pre-season (with a knee injury) where he didn't really get on the track until February, so we knew he'd be a little bit slow early on.
 
"We were thinking that last week he was going to hit some form. Against Fremantle [the previous week before the injury] he did some good things. We're confident Jake's going in the right direction."
 
Carlisle's inclusion could mean Shaun McKernan heads back to the VFL, despite an encouraging display in his first game for the club last week. The ex-Adelaide Crow trained with the club's VFL group on Friday.
 
The Bombers have struggled for goals all season, averaging just 10 a game in the first seven rounds.
 
They will continue to use captain Jobe Watson there for parts of the game, as a creative and smart means to goal but also for some leadership in that area of the ground given their inexperience.
 
There might be more youth placed near goal on Sunday, with former Greater Western Sydney player Shaun Edwards named in the Bombers' extended squad. It would be his first game for the club in his second season since being traded.
 
Edwards has put together some exciting form at VFL level and Hird said he offered something unpredictable to the Bombers' forward mix.
 
"Shaun adds some real speed and ability, agility and he is a very hard player to play on because he does unusual things. He doesn't do everything like someone would normally do," he said.
 
"We'll wait and see how everyone trains today [Friday] to see who gets in that final team but Shaun's definitely very close if not in the team this week. He adds something we probably don't have."
 
The Bombers won't have David Zaharakis at their disposal, though, with the midfielder still nursing an ankle injury. They are hopeful he will play against Richmond next week.
 
Reports this week suggested that the World Anti-Doping Agency will push for its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing to be held in Switzerland.
 
Hird was not fussed when asked about the location of the hearing.
 
"It's beyond me. It will be where it will be, I think it's a long way away before that decision's made. But Switzerland, Melbourne [or] Sydney, I think the result will be the same," Hird said.