Essendon midfielder David Zaharakis has thanked the Bombers fans for their strong support throughout the 2014 pre-season campaign.

Zaharakis said the playing group had appreciated the support of the hundreds of fans who have flocked to the club’s training sessions throughout January.

“It has been great to see all the supporters come down to training during January as we opened up our main skills sessions,” Zaharakis said.

“Our fans have been great, there is often a couple of hundred here at a session to support the boys so if as many of those fans can get on board (as members) it will be great.”

The star Bomber said having the fans along to training had inspired the players during the pre-season.

“The players are happy to sign some autographs after training and we just get a buzz when there is a bit of a crowd out there to watch you train.”

“Having all the fans there has been great so far and hopefully that can continue.”

Mark Thompson has already had an impact on the group throughout the pre-season with Zaharakis excited by his enthusiasm at training.

“It has been great so far, Bomber is one of those people where you know exactly what he is thinking at any time of the day,” Zaharakis told MMM radio.

“If he has something to say or he doesn’t like the way training is going he will definitely say what he thinks.”

“It has been great, he has a wealth of knowledge from a very successful program at Geelong so it has been really good.”

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