Essendon's best-and-fairest winner Peter Wright has his sights set on his club's AFL practice matches after receiving the all-clear on a pre-season calf injury.
The tall forward was seen hobbling from the training track last month, with fears his injury could set the Bombers back another player after losing No.5 draft pick Elijah Tsatas to a meniscus tear.
"I'm doing really well," Wright told reporters on Tuesday.
"I had that little bit of a scare, but that was a pretty clean scan actually, and to this point I've just been building back up into full training."
He said he would be on board to play the intra-club match simulation on Thursday, and the upcoming practice matches against St Kilda and Gold Coast.
Wright also said he would be "rapt"' if captain Dyson Heppell continued on for a seventh year at Essendon's helm.
Heppell said in December he isn't tied to the role and is keen to mentor the Bombers' next skipper while he is still playing.
"I think at the moment the way it stands, Hepp is still our captain and I'd be super rapt if he wanted to continue on as captain," Wright said.
"He's been outstanding and he's a really quality person, so I'm hoping he continues as captain."
He said senior players including Zach Merrett and Andy McGrath would need to step in and fill Heppell's void if he didn't continue as captain this year.
Wright's sentiments echoed those from head coach Brad Scott, who said on Friday he "couldn't be more impressed" with Heppell's leadership.
"I've admired him from afar for a long period of time and he's led this club through quite a challenging period in his career," Scott said.
"He's been super impressive and if he wants to continue as captain, I suspect that's what will happen."
