Essendon might look at recruiting a more experienced player in next week's AFL pre-season draft.

A glaring problem with the Bombers' list is having a group of players in the late 20s and early 30s, plus a big crop of newcomers, but not enough in between.

Only four delisted players found new homes last month in the national draft and Essendon's picks were all teenagers.

They will have one pick on December 16 in the pre-season draft, along with four rookie draft selections.

But the Bombers have already ruled out considering Brownlow Medallist Ben Cousins, 30, who is trying to make a senior football comeback.

It is understood Essendon will look at using their pre-season draft pick on a player in his mid-20s.

"We've got a fair bit of flexibility, because we have four rookie selections - it's nearly as much as another draft," said coach Matthew Knights.

"Predominantly, our rookies will be younger players ... 18, 19-years-old.

"The pre-season selection, it just depends on who's around, because we have added a lot of young people to our list in the last two years and had a lot of experience going out.

"I'm open-minded about looking at potentially a fairly mature player if the right guy is there."

Knights said Essendon's post-season injury situation was starting to improve as players returned from surgery.

The Bombers started pre-season with only 20 players available.

The most recent casualty was key midfielder Mark McVeigh, who is about three weeks away from resuming after cracking a bone in a toe at training.

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