Essendon coach Mark Thompson believes confidence will play an important role in how far his side can go in 2014.

The Bombers currently sit just outside the top eight with three wins from their first seven matches of the season.

Thompson said the confidence among the playing group would be a key to how the remainder of the season panned out.

“I think it could go anywhere, we could keep bumbling along and end up with as many wins as losses or we could improve dramatically and get on a role,” Thompson said on Sunday.

“I know with this group of boys is their confidence can grow quickly and they can lose it quickly.”

“If we get on a bit of a run and our confidence grows then we will see wins that follow that.”

“It is a very delicate act, we have to keep teaching them which is sometimes critical feedback and not always easy to take.”

An increase in training and playing more consistent football will be the focus of the coaching staff over the next month of football.

“In the next month we would like to get some really good training in and play some more consistent football,” he said.

“It doesn’t have to be brilliant looking football or the highest scoring football it has just got to be consistent, predictable football.”

“We just want to keep developing and growing that experience.”

Thompson said it was important that the team created an environment in which they worried about each game from week to week and did not look to far into the future.

“When you walk into the club it shouldn’t matter whether you have won or lost, you shouldn’t know,” he said.

“That way you actually handle winning and you handle losing.”

“They are both as dangerous as each other because losing affects your confidence and the pressure and scrutiny comes and winning brings the pressure to keep winning to raise expectations.”

“If we can just keep people real in real time then it is a massive advantage.”