Essendon is hurting tonight after going down to the Eagles by 32-points at Etihad Stadium in what was a demoralising performance by the Bombers.

The side, which has been the subject of much media attention during the week, were unable to answer their critics when it counted and will be looking for answers following their sixth-straight loss.

“The whole team is hurting, these sorts of losses hurt the whole club, there’s no doubt about that,” Assistant coach Adrian Hickmott said.

“The members will be hurting too and everyone hurts when you lose six in a row and the pressure starts to build.

“We have to absorb that pressure and go out and spend the week assessing the game, assessing ourselves and getting ourselves ready for the game next Saturday against North Melbourne.

Hickmott said the Eagles' ability to work harder and make the most of their opportunities gave them the ammunition they needed to steal a win over the confidence-depleted Bombers.

”After today’s effort we need to make sure that we keep pushing through with the players, instilling confidence in them and working them hard on the track during the week so that they can come up and play better next week,” Hickmott said.

“We didn’t make the most of our opportunities when the ball went inside our forward line tonight and there are other things like that that we need to improve on but we also need to rebuild our confidence as a side.

“When you are playing against an opposition that are harder at the ball than you are on the day, then it puts pressure on you and we need to correct that before next week’s game against North Melbourne.”

Mark LeCras was the hero for the Eagles, kicking 12 goals in what was an outstanding individual performance, while Brent Stanton, Sam Lonergan, Ben Howlett and Jason WInderlich tried hard for the Bombers.

“Mark played well today and we tried Heath Hocking, Dustin Fletcher, Courtenay Dempsey and Mark McVeigh on him and he was good enough to kick the 12 goals. There is no doubt he had a day out,” Hickmott said.