Star onballer Dylan Shiel says an injury-hit Essendon will need to be up for the fight against a talented Western Bulldogs midfield on Saturday night.
The Bombers have lost midfielders Darcy Parish, Matt Guelfi and Will Snelling to injury, but will add returning skipper Dyson Heppell and veteran David Myers to their engine room against the Dogs, who boast the in-form Marcus Bontempelli, Josh Dunkley and Jack Macrae in a star-studded midfield.
With both sides coming off losses and pushing for a finals berth, it looms as a crucial clash at Marvel Stadium, and one that will be decided by the midfield battle, according to Shiel.
“They are certainly a midfield that has been up and about lately,” Shiel told RSN 927.
“They have some bona fide stars and we are going to have to put out our best performance to match them.
“When you come up against midfield like the Bulldogs, you can see it as an opportunity or an obstacle and we’ll certainly see it is an opportunity to compare ourselves against some of the best.”
The Bombers have only dropped one game since the end of June, with last week’s loss to Port Adelaide breaking a five-game winning streak.
Shiel said the comeback style of those wins may have contributed to a flat performance against the Power, highlighting the need for a fast start against the Dogs.
“As we have shown over the past few weeks, we have been up to 30 points down in a game.
“There is an emotion of the game is over, to we are back in it, to we have snatched the game …You walk away from those games thinking it was a huge night for the emotions as well as physically.
“They can take a physical and emotional toll on the players, but I’m not using that as an excuse.
“(It can also lead to) a high turnover of injuries and you can get a game like we dished out on the weekend.
“When we keep giving teams a head start like against Port Adelaide, it gets to the point where they get too far in front and we didn’t have the spark and energy to get back up and fight to get back into the game and it blew out from there.”
The Bombers will go head-to-head with the Bulldogs from 7:25pm at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.
