Dustin Fletcher knows he will need to lead from the front more than ever in the absence of Mark McVeigh who will miss up to five games with a knee injury.
 
""I think we all have to stand up this week because there will be two pretty good players for us in McVeigh and Lovett missing,"" Fletcher said.
 
""Now that we have lost McVeigh, it is up to all of us in the team to play hard. I will be playing hard down back and I think other guys like Jobe Watson will be doing their best to cover his spot in the midfield.
 
""We are still pretty confident – not overly confident – but I think if we do all the right things, we can play well (against Richmond).""
 
McVeigh is set to undergo a knee arthroscope tomorrow after an old injury became inflamed and caused problems for the Essendon midfielder.
 
Fletcher said the news of surgery came as a heavy blow to McVeigh and his teammates.
 
""I spoke to him last night and he was a little bit disappointed and so were we because he has been one of our top midfielders throughout the year,"" Fletcher said.
 
""His knee had been sore over the past couple of weeks but he had been managing it alright. I’m not sure if something did happen in the game (against Brisbane) but I think it did swell up after the game and you know that when there is a bit of swelling that there is probably something wrong.""
 
 
Fletcher admitted that having Andrew Lovett out, through a club imposed two-game suspension, will only magnify the void created by McVeigh’s absence but he believes the remainder of the team has what it takes to win on Saturday.
 
""It is a bit disappointing not having Lovett there for the next couple of weeks but in saying that if Ricky Dyson, Jarrod Atkinson or someone like that can come in, hopefully they can do the job and play well,"" he said. 
 
""You know that when you play the Tigers or any other rival side, you can expect a big game and you know that the end margin will be pretty close.
 
""We have had four good wins (in a row) and you want to win as many games as we can because we had a lean chop there for a little bit. Obviously when you are winning, you get a little bit of confidence going.
 
""We were pretty disappointing the last time we played Richmond but over the last four weeks we have been doing the things that the coaching staff has asked us and we have been winning games as a result.""