Essendon senior coach John Worsfold has praised his players for their single-minded approach to chase down a four-goal final-quarter deficit in Wednesday night's draw with Gold Coast.
The Bombers piled on four unanswered goals after Lachie Weller put the Suns 23 points ahead early in the final term, with David Zaharakis doing the bulk of the damage with back-to-back majors.
While still disappointed in the result, Worsfold said the fightback showed growth from an inexperienced side missing All Australians Michael Hurley, Cale Hooker, Dyson Heppell, Joe Daniher and Jake Stringer.
"I thought the players were outstanding in the way they committed to forgetting about the scoreboard and playing the style of footy we wanted to play," Worsfold said.
"That was a strong theme and I heard the players consistently reminding themselves of that during the second half.
"The disappointment is there ... (but) we're seeing a lot of growth in the way we want to play.
"Our back-line was under pressure because we didn't defend as well as we'd like as a team. It was a fairly inexperienced back-line without Hurley and Hooker, who have been mainstays for a long time, and Ambrose as well.
"We're really pleased with the way those young players like Guelfi, Redman, Ridley and Francis are coming along, and Zerk-Thatcher in his fourth or fifth game. It's exciting for what we're seeing within that group."
The Bombers have just four days to prepare for Sunday's clash with St Kilda at the Gabba.
They'll be forced to make at least one change, with Zaharakis straining a quad late in the game and set to miss several weeks.
Worsfold said there would be no time to dwell on the draw and its implications on finals as his side quickly turns its sights to the Saints.
"I'm not spending too much time on how it (ladder) may look. We've got to recover from this game and prepare to play on Sunday," he said.
"We're managing players and we've got top-line players who will be available over the next week or two, so we're just working through all of that. It will take care of itself.
"It's an obvious thing that we're disappointed, but the really good teams that grow very quickly say 'Let me get back out there, improve and play like we did tonight in big patches'. We want more opportunities to keep improving on that. The disappointment is there, but if that stops you from improving, then that's really feeling sorry for yourself."
The Bombers are expected to regain Hurley and Jacob Townsend on Sunday, while Hooker is an outside chance to return.
They'll name their team at 6:20pm AEST on Saturday.
