Dyson Heppell is adamant the AFL finals are still within Essendon's reach despite fierce criticism over their performances in a horror start to the season.
The Bombers are under the microscope leading into their annual Anzac Day blockbuster against Collingwood, having slumped to a 1-4 record with a disappointing home loss to Fremantle last week.
But Heppell says coach Ben Rutten won't resort to any drastic measures in order to address the team's clear shortcomings around team defence, pressure and stoppages.
"You've got to keep things consistent," Heppell said.
"You've got to review it properly, like we have, and we'll continue to do that over the coming days, and train with real intent and purpose.
"That's the way we've been approaching it and we've put in a body of work but it just hasn't shown up on game days with results.
"I have full trust and belief that we'll get that back on track."
Former Essendon captains Matthew Lloyd and Brendon Goddard have both joined a wave of expert commentators slamming their old club this week.
Lloyd labelled the defeat to Fremantle "as poor a loss as you'll see", while Goddard called the Bombers' team defence "lazy" and their pressure around the ball "terrible".
Heppell said Essendon still intend to be known as a "blue-collar" team and tipped his teammates will quickly reclaim their preferred game style.
"(Last year) we had a real identity around our pressure and our speed and ability to hunt ground balls and hunt the opposition and build momentum and win the ball back in our forward half," Heppell said.
"They're a lot of the key pillars that have stood up in our game and we've just been a bit patchy and inconsistent so far this year.
"I've got full confidence and belief in the group and I have no doubt it won't take a month or six-week period, we can turn it around really quickly.
"I have no doubt we can (still play finals). We were in a pretty similar position last year leading into Anzac Day and managed to make the top eight."
Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury expects Essendon's best at the MCG as the teams do battle in front of more than 90,000 fans for the first time since 2019, before the global pandemic affected crowds and fixtures.
"One thing I do know about this day is it doesn't matter your form leading into the game because everyone finds (another level)," Pendlebury said.
"But for us our focus will be on what we can do really well, and bringing our strengths and game style to the table.
"If we can do that for long enough it should stack up."
