Friday night's match against St Kilda at The Dome is a mid-season Grand Final for Essendon as far as coach Kevin Sheedy is concerned. The coach admitted before today’s AGL Open training night that a loss against the Saints would almost put finals' football out of the Bombers' reach.

""It’s a crucial game for us to continue on some reasonably good form over the last month,"" Sheedy explained. ""It will be a cliff hanger of a game there is no doubt about that.

""I think everyone else has virtually given up, I read an article that said Essendon won’t play in the finals. It’s something the players have to understand, but the fat lady hasn’t sung yet. There is still plenty of football to be played.

""The chance is lessening week by week but this week and next are crucial mid-season Grand Finals for us. But we a building up and playing better and somewhere near our best side. We just have to win every game if we lost on Friday night.""

Not that the Bombers need any extra motivation to win, but the match also signals 200 games for Matthew Lloyd.

""It’s his 200th game and we want the team to play well. I’d be very disappointed if the players didn’t play well for Matthew. We would just like Lloyd to go out there and enjoy the game,"" Sheedy said.

And on the eve of the milestone, Sheedy was more than happy to talk up his champion full forward, and in particular reinforce his opinion that Lloyd will be the next captain of the club.

""I wouldn’t even hesitate, you have a fantastic base and attitude for training, he is a really professional player. He has character, he is a quality person and I rate him pretty high in that area with Francis Bourke and Kevin Bartlett,"" he said. 

Essendon is a good chance to regain the services of Dustin Fletcher and Dean Rioli along with a number of Bendigo Bombers players who have been impressive in recent weeks.

If Fletcher does return, it will be the 500th game played between himself and his father Ken.

""It’s a fantastic part of the game the AFL has allowed us to have. It’s a special part of footy in Australia that fans can have, it’s a pity that don’t have it in other sports,"" Sheedy said.

A full replay of today's press conference is available in Bomber.tv.