The Sydney Swans will travel to Marvel Stadium this week to take on Essendon on Saturday afternoon. 

Senior Coach Dean Cox spoke to the media on Thursday, ahead of the match.

On the win against GWS

"Obviously really pleased to get the result we did, the opportunity now is to try and back it up, I think, for the playing group to be able to learn what worked on the weekend, but also a different opportunity that presents coming and going to Melbourne and taking on a team that's won four out of the last five games."

On how to replace Lewis Melican this week

"We'll talk about that after training today, but you know, the options we have ahead of the ball to be able to go back, obviously Joel (Hamling) played a fair bit of time there at the start of the season with both Nick (Blakey) and Tom (McCartin) and Dane (Rampe) and the like, so that's certainly probably an option that we certainly have to look at. And the other one is Aaron (Francis) has also done the same, so the ability to work out what our back line looks like and then we'll adjust the forward line according to that."

On Aaron Francis and Joel Hamling

"It was really pleasing, I think one thing that they did really well is they executed the role and that was about trying to nullify their strengths, which they've got a phenomenal back line, GWS and, like any team, we want to try and take strengths away from the opposition. But on top of that is allow us to play to our strengths, and Joel and Aaron performed really well and they are really strong intercepting defenders, so they play a little bit different than normal forwards do, and they're defenders, so they went and defended their defenders."

On Taylor Adams

"He trained fully on the weekend, we opted not to play VFL for him last week in a restricted timeframe, so he'll get through training today and then be available, whether that's with us or he needs one VFL game, he's spent a fair bit of time out, so we'll assess and talk about that."

On Logan McDonald

"The exact timeframe we won't know until post-surgery, very similar to Errol in that regard in that we'll get more clarification once that happens, but as soon as you're having surgery, it's not a two- or four-week injury, so we've got to support Logan. It's the best thing for him to get back playing his best football, so that's the sole focus of the surgery and why we're going down that path."

On James Jordon's 100th game

"He's a pretty level-headed young man, I think there's no-fuss approach about James, and his ability to, first of all, when he got to the football club, he settled in very quickly, trains hard, works really hard on his game, spends a lot of time with coaches, and the role that he plays is a real selfless one for the football club and one we value very highly."

On Essendon's Zach Merrett

"I think the thing with Zach is he's consistent, and his ability to do it year after year and week to week. You look at when North come back at him late, the steady head, and his leadership was phenomenal. He's been a great player for that football club for a long period of time, and he's one of many that we need to be accountable for."

On Callum Mills

"He trained twice last week, he'll train again today and over the weekend so we're just making sure that we can build the volume and  then when we get to next week, work out how much has he done, what does he need to do? Is it another bigger session or is it an ability to be able to play a game of some sort? So I think one thing we've learnt over the period is that if you plan exact dates of when they're coming back, it becomes really tough. We just try and look at every week what he does, how much has he done, what does he need to improve on, and we'll do the same again."

On Errol Gulden's rehab

"I think the way that Errol prepares, he leaves nothing to chance, and that's why he's such a great footballer. He's done the same through the rehab process, he's on the physio's back asking, "How quickly can I push it?" If it gets a little bit sore, I've got to rest, but then I want to build as quickly as I possibly can. So, yeah, he's an unbelievable preparer and he'll get back as quickly as he can."

On how Errol has been able to stay involved

"The ability to be able to have a facility that you can come and do as much touch as you possibly can. There was non-weight-bearing at the start, but he still was out there. I think the ability to be able to sit in meetings and interact with leadership staff and sit on the bench, so he's actually broadened. I think when players get injured, one thing you can't fault is you can still develop as a footballer, just not on the football field. So Errol's been a perfect example that he can still learn everything and what he needs to do to improve his game without playing."