Essendon midfielder David Zaharakis has revealed his disappointment on missing out on selection in the club’s leadership group.

The 23-year-old has been a member of the leadership group for the last two seasons but missed out on the peer voted group for 2014 when it was voted on a fortnight ago.

Zaharakis said the setback in his leadership aspirations would prove a great motivator moving forward.

“I am not going to shy away from it, it is pretty disappointing personally for myself it is something I hold quiet strongly in my own aspirations,” Zaharakis said.

“I have been a captain right through junior footy then part of the leadership group the last two years.”

“It is something I am definitely going to keep working on and aspiring to get back into.”

The skillful midfielder will now work closely with newly appointed Head of Coaching Development and Strategy NeilCraig to continue to improve his leadership qualities.

“Neil Craig has been great coming from a successful program at Adelaide and I will work with him once a week to work on my leadership,” Zaharakis said.

“It is definitely something I am going to be aspiring to do, get back in the leadership group as quickly as I can.”

Zaharakis has already set about working on the feedback he received from players and coaches following the announcement.

“I got some good feedback from the players on what I can improve on but I don’t want to go into too much detail about that.”

“It is all about how you respond, you can go one of two ways and I am definitely a person who likes to prove people wrong.”

“I have already been working on it straight away so I have already had further feedback in the last week that I have shown great improvement in that area.”

Join the Bomber army today as we strive for 60,000 members in 2014.

Don't drop the ball when it comes to your career. You could become a Personal Trainer with Dyson Heppell, Mark Baguley, Tayte Pears and Michael Hibberd at Australian Institute of Fitness. Contact the Institute on 1300 669 669 or visit www.fitness.edu.au.