Essendon captain, Matthew Lloyd, has given new coach, Matthew Knights, his full backing saying the former Richmond midfielder has the support of the entire playing group.

""He has just got a massive amount of respect from the senior and younger players,"" Lloyd said.

""The advantage for him is he has been the person that has developed players over the past three years when we have had a massive turn-over of players.

""What I have noticed about Matthew is that he is hard but he is fair so the boys are in for a bit of a wake-up, a bit of a shock when we get back on November five, the way he approaches things.""

Lloyd said he feels he has to prove himself to the new coach and hopes the appointment adds a few years to his career.

""I think the appointment the club has made will fast track players development ten-fold and I think it will give us the best chance for success next year because he knows who the players are,"" he said.

""I think it (the appointment) might be the difference to whether we play finals or not next year.

""He knows who is lazy, who are hard trainers, what players best suit positions, who needs to work on their endurance.

""It's exciting for me, someone who hasn't got a lot of time left, and it gives us the best opportunity to go somewhere in the next two to three years.""

Lloyd said he can see a strong comparison between when he replaced James Hird as captain and Knights replacing Kevin Sheedy as coach.

""I was stepping into the shoes of one of the great captains of all time and people said 'how do you feel about it?'. I had my own thoughts and theories and was completely different to James Hird and Matthew will be exactly the same,"" he said.

""Things will change around the place and he will do it his way. He wants to meet with the players and staff over the next few days .. it will be a nice week for the club to get things settled and look forward to next year.""