Essendon are hoping to make a decision on their 10th and final top-up player as soon as the end of this week.

Former Brisbane Lions forward Sam Michael has been training with the Bombers squad for the past fortnight, and is favourite to take out the final position in the heavily affected Essendon squad.

“We’ll probably make a decision on that 10th spot maybe by the end of this week, but definitely within the next week or two,” coach John Worsfold said.