Brendon Goddard has backed Essendon chairman David Evans, labelling him the right man to lead the club.  

Evans last week announced he would bring forward his chairmanship re-election by two years to November due to the ASADA investigation that has engulfed the club.

On Tuesday Goddard helped launch the club's 'Flight Plan' guernsey which it will wear against the Brisbane Lions on Saturday.

In acknowledging the contribution Evans has made to the Bombers' new Melbourne Airport facility, Goddard added the players had "full faith" in the chairman.

"His effort and contribution to the boys in what's been happening the last six months has been huge," Goddard said.

"Publicly, I speak on behalf of the boys, we're really appreciative of what he's doing for the boys and the footy club.

"We've got full faith in him. He's put himself up for re-election at the end of the year, but as players [we think] there's no other man who is better for the job."

When Goddard first arrived at Essendon, having crossed from St Kilda at the end of last season as a restricted free agent, he expressed surprise at how young the list was at his new club.

He said he had seen his teammates grow in stature, having been in the spotlight since February and having come through it to win the first six games of the year.

"As footy players the significance of it doesn't really get much bigger in terms of controversy. So the guys, without them actually knowing it yet, have matured a lot as a group," he said.

"I know we've talked about it and it's galvanised us, but the reality of the situation is we don't have any choice but to grow up and learn from these life experiences."

Fresh from Essendon's first loss of the year, Goddard said the Bombers had taken confidence from the 28-point defeat to Geelong last week.

"Obviously the things that stand out are the missed opportunities in the third quarter. [But] the foundations of our game in what we believe are important to us are there and really evident; that's a real positive to come out of the game," he said.

"We're quite upbeat even though we didn't walk away with the four points."

Courtenay Dempsey (ankle) and Brent Stanton (groin) missed last week's clash but are expected to face the Lions at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.