‘Next man up’.

Although Essendon will enter their first home game against Adelaide at the MCG this Saturday without a couple of stars at the ground’s bookends in Jordan Ridley and Kyle Langford, that’s the mentality Senior Coach Brad Scott will take into an open selection table.

A group of Bombers have been putting their hand up at VFL level over the past month with Jye Menzie among those impressing, as well as uncapped AFL youngsters Lewis Hayes, Tom Edwards and Saad El-Hawli.

With Ridley in good shape after his head knock and expected to return for round three once out of the Concussion Protocols, Scott’s taking his ‘squad mentality’ focus into selection to combat a Crows side in good touch.

“Ridley and Langford are not really replaceable players, certainly like-for-like for us,” Scott said.

“Like every team in the competition, we’ve got a squad mentality – we’ve got players ready to come in, players in good form in the VFL, so we’re certainly not finalised on what our team will look like.”

In last week’s 26-point defeat to Hawthorn, the Dons won out in several important metrics around the ground such as clearance and contested ball, which is giving Scott confidence that his side can tidy up and turn results their way against quality opposition.

Another facet which impressed the Senior Coach was the group’s mindset to move forward from potentially deflating moments in-game, such as a rushed behind call which saw the Hawks extend their lead in the first half.

“I was actually more impressed (and) what I was really pleased with is that our players’ reactions to that were ‘straight back into the moment, straight into the game’,” Scott said.

“I thought that’s why, right up until the last couple of minutes, we thought we were a chance to come over the top. That’s what impressed me the most.

“What (round one) did is highlight certain areas that we really want to work on and get better at, but it also highlights that a lot of the foundational parts of our game, the contest and defensive pressure, those things were pretty good, but other parts need work.

The group’s next opportunity to channel that ‘straight back into it’ approach comes in the form of Adelaide, who produced a solid performance at home last week to open their campaign 1-0.

The prospect of facing the Crows at the MCG for the first time since 1995 is an exciting one for the Club, with Scott looking forward to the next big test in front of his troops.

“(We review Adelaide) like we do every opposition,” Scott said.

“They’ve got some very good players, when they get the game on their terms, they’re a good side. I’d put them in the category of most of the competition, at their best they’re very good.

“We’ll expect their best and have a plan to bring our best.”