YOUNG midfielder Dan Hannebery may make a welcome return from injury in Friday night's NAB Cup clash with Essendon at Etihad Stadium as the Sydney Swans continue their strong build-up to round one.

Typically bit-part players in the pre-season competition, the Swans have shown good signs early in 2012, splitting games with St Kilda and Geelong in the first week before a solid 17-point over North Melbourne on Saturday night.

Josh Kennedy, Shane Mumford, Gary Rohan and Lewis Roberts-Thomson all returned to the side against the Kangaroos as the Swans remained in contention for a berth in the NAB Cup final.

Sam Reid sat out the game with a knock to his knee, but may face the Bombers, while Hannebery could also see some game time and co-captain Adam Goodes will return after his one-game suspension.

"Goodesy will come back and we'll certainly discuss Dan Hannebery," coach John Longmire said.

"He won't play the whole game, but we'll discuss whether he's right to play, and Shawy (Rhyce Shaw) will also come back into the team.

"Reidy just had a knock to the knee last week and we were deciding what to do with him this week.

"In season we would've pushed for him to be playing (against North Melbourne), but it came down to a workload issue; he has a bit of a sore knee, so we thought we'll give him this weekend off and hopefully he pulls up okay next week and is able to play."

Hannebery is a key cog in the Swans' midfield and his return, following off-season shoulder and then knee surgery, will be a welcome fillip so close to the start of the season.

Three weeks out from their opening clash with Greater Western Sydney, Matt Spangher (hamstring), Tony Armstrong (quad) and Tom Mitchell (hamstring) are the only players unlikely to be ready to take on the Giants.

Another midfielder who is showing terrific signs is veteran Jude Bolton.

This time last year Bolton was in the final year of his contract and there were quiet question marks over whether he would remain with the club beyond 2011.

He responded with one of his best seasons to date, earning him a contract extension for 2012, and he has been among the Swans' best players so far in the NAB Cup.

Sitting on 279 career games, this season Bolton could become just the third Swan behind Michael O'Loughlin and Adam Goodes to play 300 games and he feels primed for the year ahead.

"I've felt like I've prepared my body well and I feel in pretty good shape and ready for the season," Bolton told AFL.com.au.

"That's what you have to do to have longevity in the game, you have to prepare well and give yourself the best opportunity to play a full season.

"If you have a good pre-season, if you have a good run-in to the games, you're every chance of playing every game and having a good output."

There were good signs for the Swans against North Melbourne, but a possible spot in the NAB Cup final is far from their thoughts.

"That hasn't been a real focus in any sense," Bolton said.

"The Kangaroos seem to have set themselves for the pre-season and were up and going, so it was good to hit them right from the word go.

"We worked on our contested footy, we've got plenty to work on before round one, but I thought it was a good hit-out."

James Dampney covers Sydney AFL news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_JD