Matthew Lloyd has been tearing it up for Essendon in recent weeks but it is ruckman David Hille giving West Coast headaches ahead of Sunday's AFL clash at Subiaco Oval.

Dean Cox may well be on his way to a fourth straight All-Australian guernsey but the West Coast big man was given a football lesson by Hille in round 12 when the Bombers recorded a 22-point victory over West Coast at Telstra Dome.

In that encounter, Hille tallied 27 possessions, nine marks, 22 hit-outs and three goals in a best afield performance, lowering Cox's colours in the process.

West Coast assistant coach Darren Harris threw down the challenge to Cox to turn the tables on Hille.

"It will be a massive challenge for Coxy," Harris said.

"I think Hille is one bloke who's really challenged him over the journey so he needs to step up and match him.

"He (Hille) runs offensively very well. He backs himself in but he's also very good at the stoppages.

"He actually has clearances so Coxy's going to have to be very aware of making sure he picks the right time to run forward and when to defend."

Lloyd has reinvented himself in the second half of the season as a roaming forward and the Bombers have reaped the benefits.

Last week against Melbourne, Lloyd bagged eight goals and took one of the marks of the season in a scintillating performance that guided the Bombers to their sixth win from seven starts.

With Eagles skipper Darren Glass still carrying a number of niggling injuries, West Coast coach John Worsfold said he may turn to Beau Wilkes, Eric Mackenzie or Matt Spangher to man the Bombers spearhead.

"It's going to depend on how he lines up," Worsfold said.

"Last time I think Beau Wilkes had him for a fair part of the game. So we've got Wilkes, Mackenzie and Spangher to look at but we've got Glass as well and we'll weigh all that up."

West Coast have made two changes to the side that lost to Fremantle last week, replacing Brad Ebert (groin) and Brent Staker (thumb) with Spangher and Ryan Davis.

Essendon forward Scott Lucas failed in his bid to recover from a knee injury while Kyle Reimers (hamstring) and Damien Peverill (glute) have been forced out through injury, with West Australian Courtenay Dempsey and 20-year-old Heath Hocking the two to come into the Bombers' line-up.

While West Coast's chances of September action vanished months ago, Essendon still have a chance to sneak into the eight.

The Bombers started round 19 one game and percentage adrift of eighth spot and will probably have to win their remaining four matches - against the Eagles, Adelaide, Western Bulldogs and St Kilda - to snare a spot in the finals.

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