The next month could decide the Bombers' finals hopes according to Essendon young gun, Angus Monfries, who also said that Friday's blockbuster with the Blues will be a massive test.

""If we can win this game we will get ahead of the ledger and be seven wins and six losses,"" he said.

""We have some hard games coming up, we have Collingwood next week, Sydney in Sydney and Western Bulldogs the week after so we are playing some good sides and if we can win a few of the those games it will really set us up for the last half of the year.""

The 22-year-old rejected suggestions there is more pressure on Carlton to win because of their high profile midfield and pre-season expectations.

""We won't be looking at our opponent thinking that they are that good that the pressure is on them, we go out to win every week and tomorrow will be no different,"" he said.

""Probably in the first half of the year we might have been a tad under-rated and I think we have shown with some of our victories this year that we are on the right track.""

To watch Monfries and Hickmott on Bomber.tv click here

Assistant coach, Alan Richardson, said he expected Adam McPhee and Brent Prismall - who both trained well today - to play tomorrow night despite being under an injury cloud.

""Prismall was a little sore after the game - a terrific game, 24 or 25 possessions having come back from a knee reconstruction - he will train today, he'd be very likely to play,"" he said.

""It will depend how he pulls up after training but we expect him to play.""

Richardson said the emotional reaction of the coaching department in the box after the Round 3 win was due to the high respect they have for Carlton.

""We rate them very highly and to win in the fashion we did against what we think is a pretty good football team, the emotions spilled out,"" he said. 

Monfries also described Mark McVeigh as a passionate player and was disappointed he would miss the game through suspension.