Scott Lucas says Essendon’s best chance at beating Collingwood on Saturday is to increase their effectiveness around the stoppages.

The Bombers were beaten in clearances in both their losses to Brisbane and Sydney.

“If you look at the last quarter for the Bombers and the disappointing work around the stoppages and so forth - that has to be a real focus area for them,” Lucas said.

“'Tommy Bell' – it starts with him in the ruck and then the mids around him. With Myers coming back into the team there’s that there’s that big bodied mid around the contest.

“Myers brings some more experience around the ball.

“I really expect a response from the senior players who would’ve been disappointed with the way the last quarter went last week and they’ll bounce back well.”

The Dons number of entries inside 50 has increased in recent weeks, averaging 60 in their last three games but Lucas said the efficiency in hitting targets needs to improve to beat the Pies. 

“I certainly think the forward line has been an area of strength when you consider that entries have been down, relative to other teams,” Lucas said.

“It’s been better the last couple of weeks.

“I think they need to improve that last kick in because last week we kicked to two v one too often, with Brisbane’s player dropping off into the whole and we weren’t able to exploit our free player.”