The Sydney Swans have recalled the services of veteran defender Nick Smith for Saturday’s clash with Essendon.

Smith was a late withdrawal from last weekend’s game in Brisbane after suffering from knee soreness pre-match.

The 27-year-old comes in as a replacement for Aliir Aliir who has been omitted while Zak Jones, who replaced Smith last week, retains his place in the side.

Aliir, Toby Nankervis and Dean Towers have been listed as emergencies.

Senior coach John Longmire said Smith has trained well this week and will take his place in the back six.

“He’s a quality defender,” Longmire said.

“It was a very late call last weekend. His knee just didn’t feel quite right.

“It settled down after a few days and he was able to do all of training and has pulled up really well.”

Despite Essendon’s unfavourable record in Sydney (a five-game losing streak), Longmire is wary of the Bombers’ ability to find the football given they’re ranked third in the competition for total disposals.

“They’re averaging 400 possessions a week so they’re getting a lot of the ball,” Longmire added.

“We expect their experienced players to be able to know how to play at the SCG – a lot of them have been around for a long time, so we’ve just got to make sure we play how we want to play.”

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