Fremantle senior coach Justin Longmuir believes the Club is prepared to face a ‘really physical’ Essendon side who will be looking to push themselves back into the top eight on Sunday.

The last time Fremantle played Essendon on the MCG was all the way back in 1999, with Longmuir confirming the 25-year drought playing the Dons at the venue was of no concern to the Club.

“We expect their best absolutely,” Longmuir said.

“They’ve played some really good footy this year and we can’t get caught up in one week, or last week’s game, we’ve got to make sure we prepare for them at their best because they’ve been in every game this year apart from last week.

“They’ve been in every game and have challenged really hard. We know what to expect.

“I think here (Optus Stadium) is pretty similar to the MCG in terms of ground size, width and those sorts of things.

“We’ve reviewed their last few games at the MCG and the way they play on either ground (Marvel or MCG), and we will be ready for it.”

Speaking on the loss of dual Brownlow Medallist Nat Fyfe, Longmuir said there would be a number of replacement options considered at Thursday afternoon’s squad selection.

“He’s a big loss, that’s why we chose to fight it at the Tribunal,” Longmuir said.

“A because we thought we could get him off, but B we don’t want him out of the team.

“He’s playing some important roles for us and we’re going to have to find someone to fill his role this week…We’ve got a number of options.”

Excluding the three games this year where Fyfe has featured as the substitute, the 32-year-old midfielder has averaged 20.75 disposals (10.37 contested) and 5.31 clearances per appearance in his 16 full games, playing a vital role inside the contest to win the ball.

“Hopefully he can freshen up and we can get him back next week,” Longmuir said.

Talking on the current lists depth, Longmuir praised the professionalism of the players currently outside the senior team for continuously working to improve their game in the WAFL.

“We’re hoping 'Johnno' (Matthew Johnson) comes back from injury, and we’ve had some guys ready for an opportunity at Peel so whether it (Fyfe’s replacement) comes from outside the team or within the team we’ll work that out at selection,” Longmuir stated.

“Those guys that you are probably talking about, and there is probably five or six to be honest down there (at Peel) that could play in a lot of teams and could play in our team obviously.

“They have taken their footy forward with the right mindset and have become better players by playing at that level.

“Whoever gets an opportunity this week they’ll step up.

“I guess it is a bit of a balance, but we just need to make sure internally that we don’t see it as a negative, it’s an opportunity to take your footy forward and improve on certain areas of the game so when an opportunity does come up A you’re ready, but B you’re a better player.

“We’ve seen that with Tommy Emmett. He had a six-to-eight-week spell down at Peel, where he really worked on his game and aspects of his game that we asked him to, and he came back and played his role on the weekend and executed well. He’s a great example for those guys.”

Fremantle’s initial extended squad to take on Essendon on Sunday will be named at fremantlefc.com.au at 4.20pm (WST) this afternoon.