He said Essendon’s all-time leading goal-kicker should not simply be rated on whether he kicks bags of goals each game.

“I think the expetations are a little high on Matthew,” Knights said.

“With being captain comes pressure to perform and lead and yes, he’s not in the best form of his carreer but, in saying that, there aren’t as many forward entries inside 50m and he’s not getting as many opportunities as he used to.

“We are preparing young forwards like Neagle and Gumbleton and sharing time in the forward line with Lucas and McPhee so he’s not the only target.

“You can’t expect him to come out and kick bags of six, seven, eight anymore - it’s not realistic to have those expectations and I don’t have those expectations on Matthew as a player.

“I am looking for him to do the basics very well, to set up a few goals and kick a few as well and to help develop Neagle and Gumbleton so I am not putting pressure on him to kick goals as that doesn’t happen much in the modern game unless you wear number 23 and wear brown and yellow.

“If he plays full forward you would like him to kick three or four and contribute but if I play him up the ground he might get one or two. Matthew might play both roles so the expectations of him need to change. People come to the ground thinking he needs to kick six but if he’s playing up the ground he’s not going to.”

West Coast are set to welcome back Le Cras and Hansen and Knights said he expects a physical, hard-fought contest.

“West Coast were in front of Sydney for a long time (on the weekend) and have 13-14 premiership players. Like us they haven’t had a lot of wins this year but they are a formidable side,” Knights said.

“Both teams have good young players so it will be a good match-up and I am looking forward to the contest.”