Essendon recruit Adam Cooney wants to play every game this AFL season, saying he feels no need to be managed through the year.

The 29-year-old will make his debut for the Bombers in Friday night’s NAB Challenge match against GWS at Spotless Stadium.

Cooney is feeling bullish about what he can give Essendon after a strong pre-season.

The 2008 Brownlow Medallist thought his career might be over in 2012 because of a degenerative knee injury.

But the midfielder noted he had managed 19 and 18 games in the last two seasons after revolutionary medical treatment on the injury.

Cooney then moved from the Western Bulldogs and after 219 senior games is confident he still has plenty to offer.

“I’ve only missed two or three sessions, so it’s the most training I’ve done in the last couple of years,” he said.

“I’m feeling fit.

“As long as I can keep myself injury-free, I think I can play every game.”

Cooney and Brendon Goddard, who is also returning on Friday, will be two of the most senior players in Essendon’s spare-parts team against the Giants.

They are without 20 players from their 2012 list, who are sitting out games until the AFL anti-doping tribunal hands down its verdicts into cases stemming from Essendon’s supplements scandal.

But David Zaharakis has joined four other 2012 team-mates in gaining permission from the club to play in the pre-season.

Cooney is confident the looming tribunal verdicts will not derail the team.

“The guys have been pretty resilient (for more than) two years,” he said.

“They’ve been through it all.

“They’ve played well under stress in the last two years and there’s no reason they can’t perform again at the start of the season.”

If the tribunal verdicts go Essendon’s way, there is still the issue of not playing together as a whole side in the pre-season.

Their top-up team did well for three quarters last Saturday against St Kilda before losing by 50 points.

But Cooney said the squad had done plenty of match simulation and would be ready once they can field a full-strength team.

“We’ve had long enough to play together and train together, that when the guys come back we’ll all play well together,” he said.

Cooney also said they would aim to add to their game plan in Friday’s match after a basic strategy against St Kilda.

“We’ll probably try to add more elements to our game plan that we want to roll out this year.

“With the guys who are playing, we need a little bit more of a structure in place when things change during the game.