Coleman Medal leader Ben Brown is always a dangerous opponent, but his record against Essendon is particularly strong.

Averaging three goals a game in his five encounters with the Bombers, Brown could find senior defender Cale Hooker alongside him for much of the game, despite coach John Worsfold keeping his cards close to his chest.

“Possibly,” Worsfold responded when asked if Hooker was the logical match-up.“

There’s various things we can take into account in terms of that, but I certainly expect that ‘Hooksy’ would be on him for parts of the game.

“I’m sure Mark Harvey (Essendon performance coach) would be looking at Ben Brown’s form, how he’s been playing and how they set-up around him given he’s been such an in-form target for him.”

There is more speculation surrounding the Dons’ backline structure, with the replacement for injured defender Mason Redman still up for debate.

Jordan Ridley starred in Essendon VFL’s win last weekend collecting 29 disposals, while Aaron Francis and Patrick Ambrose impressed with 22 and 17 touches respectively.

Francis hasn’t played at AFL level since Round 7 last year.

“There’s certainly an opportunity there for (Aaron Francis) this week,” Worsfold said.

“He played really well again, but Jordan Ridley was outstanding on the weekend, and Patrick Ambrose was really strong as well.

“We’re blessed to have some great options.

“The challenge is always around the make-up of our backline, what the opposition are going to throw at us and getting the match-ups right.

“That will dictate which one of those players are going to come in, they’re all worthy of stepping into the lineup.

Elsewhere around the ground, Worsfold is fully aware of some of North’s top-end talent.

“(Shaun) Higgins and (Ben) Cunnington have been good, their backline has been really solid, so there’s no one particular area,” he added.

“I think they’re just playing really good footy and they’re well-structured across the field.”