The Sydney Swans' backline has been bolstered by the return of Lewis Melican for Friday's clash with Essendon.

An omission before the trip to Melbourne last weekend due to match-ups, Melican earns an immediate recall to help counter the Bombers' tall forward line of Joe Daniher and James Stewart.

He's one of two changes for the big Round 14 clash, joining Ollie Florent in the final side in place of Zak Jones (suspended) and Harry Marsh (omitted).

Sydney Swans coach John Longmire said Melican was unlucky to miss the Richmond win and should slot back into his defensive post nicely.

"We looked at Essendon's team and they've got some genuine talls, 196cm-plus," Longmire said in Centrum Team Selection.

"We had a number of blokes we thought could have been selected in that defensive post that have been in good form but we felt with Lewis (going) out last week with match-ups, he can come back in with match-ups. We just think he's best suited."

As reward for his outstanding form in the NEAFL, Florent comes back for his seventh senior appearance of the season as a like-for-like replacement for Jones.

Jones was suspended for a week after being cited by the Match Review Panel for striking Richmond's Dan Butler in last weekend's clash at the MCG.

Longmire said while it was disappointing to be missing Jones for such a crucial clash, he's confident Florent can fill the void.

"He gives us some real speed, some consistent high-speed efforts throughout the game," Longmire added.

"He's really developing well. His performances at the next level down have been absolutely consistent and at a really high level.

"He played well again last week in that win and half-forward role."

Two notable names who were thrown up as possible inclusions this week were Jarrad McVeigh and Aliir Aliir.

McVeigh is likely to play his first game at reserves level for more than a decade after Longmire believed the defender would be better served with a solid run at the lower level to ease any concerns around his calves and hamstrings which has plagued his 14th season in the AFL.

Aliir, who suffered a minor knee injury in Saturday's NEAFL win against Aspley, failed to train with the main group on Wednesday which ruled him out of selection for both the AFL and NEAFL sides.

Marsh, Shaun Edwards and Jordan Foote have been named as emergencies.

Click here to view the full squad.