Key Essendon midfielder David Zaharakis has suffered another quad injury which is likely to rule him out of the Bombers’ NAB Cup campaign.

But club and player were relieved to learn that it was only a grade one tear, unlike the more serious quad injury Zaharakis sustained last year which saw him miss 10 matches.

Zaharakis, who won Essendon’s best and fairest award in 2011, hopes to start his rehabilitation program next week.

The Bombers’ general manager of football Danny Corcoran said there was still some chance the 22-year-old would get some game-time during the pre-season competition.

“It is not a severe injury so we are hoping he will see some NAB Cup action and be right for round one,” Corcoran said.

“It is a different injury to last time, but it is grade one and he will miss two to three weeks.”

Essendon begin their NAB Cup campaign in a triple-header against Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on February 15.

The Bombers suffered a dreadful run with soft-tissue injuries last year.

But young star Dyson Heppell – who was added to the leadership group this season – said he was confident a revised fitness program would help prevent a recurrence in 2013.

“We will definitely benefit from the pre-season we had last year,” Heppell said on Tuesday.

“It was a big pre-season in terms of the weights and the running we were putting in.

“Come this time this year our bodies are in really good shape from last year’s pre-season. I think it’s really helped.”

Heppell is looking forward to more midfield time in 2013 after spending most of his first two seasons as a rebounding defender.

“I’ve spent the majority of this pre-season with the midfield group working pretty closely with Simon Goodwin, our midfield coach,” said the 20-year-old Heppell.

“I feel I’m improving on the areas I need to and hopefully will spend more time there this year.”