Essendon have resolved to avoid any more slip-ups on their road to the AFL finals - and that starts with North Melbourne on Saturday.
The Bombers sit 10th on the ladder at 8-8 and are on track to play in September if they can replicate the form shown in their last-out belting of St Kilda.
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FootyFix: Can Port hold their ground at MCG
Sam McClure previews all the footy action ahead of round 18 in the AFL.
A win over the Kangaroos will place them in the top eight, at least temporarily.
But they can't afford to drop any more matches to sides ranked below them.
John Worsfold's side have lost to 18th-placed Brisbane and 16th-placed Carlton already this season.
Their assignment this weekend is the 17th-placed Kangaroos, and with an away match against the 15th-placed Gold Coast still to come, it's not impossible that the Bombers could lose to the bottom four sides this year.
Worsfold said the way to avoid that scenario was to re-commit to their gameplan.
"We've let ourselves down when we haven't committed to that and to each other," he said.
"The Carlton game was a little bit different because it was a game under water but the Brisbane game we went away from the way we wanted to play."
Worsfold said players wouldn't allow any "mental games" to enter the equation ahead of playing lowly-ranked sides.
"Where our opposition sits on the ladder should have no impact on what we expect from each other," he said.
"What we're trying to build is a team that just focused on how we want to perform and play.
"If we're not consistent then the finals will take care of themselves. We won't be there."
AAP