MELBOURNE has invited two former AFLW players down to the club to train with the team throughout the 2020 season.

Kirby Bentley and Sarah Perkins will be embedded in the club’s football program as back-ups in case the Dees need to call upon an extra player at some point of the competition.

Each AFLW list consists of 30 players, and a club is required to name a 23-girl squad each week.

Should a side fail to fill all 23 positions, they are entitled to add a top-up player to the team.

After Bianca Jakobsson was declared an inactive player due to her commitments with the Police Academy, and with a couple of injuries beginning to mount, the Demons could potentially find themselves short a player at some point of the season.

While it is highly unlikely to reach this situation, Melbourne has prepared itself with the addition of Bentley and Perkins.

Bentley has plenty of experience settling into new environments after playing a total of 10 senior games for Fremantle and Carlton across the first three years of the competition.

Perkins is a known-goal kicker who has 17 games of AFLW experience with the Crows, including a premiership in 2017.