Essendon Coach John Worsfold says he’s not concerned by talk of teams targeting the Bombers for a percentage boost. 

With just four points separating second to eighth position on the ladder, percentage is likely to become a crucial factor in the jostling for a top four spot.

The Bombers play the finals bound Geelong and Western Bulldogs in the run home.

Worsfold said the way the opposition approaches the game doesn’t affect his mindset.

“I’m motivated to play any team at any time,” Worsfold said.

“I really don’t care what their motivation is.

“They can think we’re easy beats or they can think it’s a percentage boost – that really has no impact on how hard I want to play the game.

“That’s what I’m trying to instill in to the playing group.

“We control what we’re all about and we’re not looking for little snippets of motivation from anywhere.

“We don’t need the sun to be shining, we don’t need the opposition to be telling us that we need to try hard, it’s all about us.”

Essendon expects to have Mitch Brown and Mathew Stokes available for the match against Geelong.

The sides met earlier this season in round four, with Geelong taking an eight-point lead into the final change before kicking away in the last quarter.

With four games to play, Worsfold said he might look to rest some of his young talent to ensure their output in the games they do play remains at a high level. 

“We won’t want to rest seven or eight in any given game, so the idea will be to look at what is coming up, what suits, which players are flagging the most and rest one or two each week,” he said. 

Darcy Parish is one of those younger players who have carried a big workload this season. 

In his 17 games so far, he’s averaged 21 possessions and was nominated for the Rising Star award after his match-sealing goal against Melbourne in round two. 

Worsfold said Parish’s performances compare well against any of the other nominees. 

“People will look at how he’s performed this year in terms of his numbers and I think they stack up with anyone,” he said.

“I don’t know how the guys that select that award go about it but I’m pretty happy with what he’s brought this year.”