Essendon coach James Hird said his side missed the run and poise of dashing defender Courtenay Dempsey in Friday night’s loss to Geelong at Etihad Stadium.

Dempsey missed the match with a sore ankle and is expected to be fit to take on Brisbane next Saturday afternoon.

Hird said the team lacked drive off the half back line in many of their attacks forward.

“Not having Dempsey in the side really hurt us tonight with his ball use, his run and ability to break open opposition teams,” Hird said post match.

“Dempsey probably meant that we need another small defender but we are always looking for smart half back line players who can defend, attack and use the ball really well.”

“They are hard to find.”

Hird said smaller running defenders were a key development area for the Bombers.

“We have been able to find Hibberd and Baguley through rookie lists but we have certainly recruited a couple of younger ones in Jason
Ashby and Marty Gleeson that are recruited specifically for that reason,” he said.

The Bombers finished winning the clearance count (41-22), inside 50 count (54-47) and contested possession count (139-135) but could not convert their dominance into a match winning score.

“Geelong are a very good counter acting team and they certainly hurt you if you don’t use the ball in the right way,” Hird said.

“I thought that at times we didn’t use the ball out of those contests well enough…. or make it hurt enough for Geelong.

“When you kick one goal nine it really hurts you to, you are sort of using the ball well out of contest but your kicking points.”

Hird admitted the decision to make six changes ahead of Friday night’s match with key inclusions Hurley, Fletcher, Heppell, Winderlich and Carlisle, may have unsettled his side.

“Six changes is a lot and you don’t want to go down that path too often.”

“They were all pretty much forced changes.”

“I thought Heppell’s game was pretty good and he was one of those guys that came in following last week.”