Essendon is determined to end its season on a high as it prepares to face archrival Carlton on Saturday.

The Bombers will be looking for their third win of the season and a victory could see the Club maintain its record of not having finished last since 1933.

“The players set themselves at the start of the year to be competitive all the way through – it was something we were going to measure ourselves on,” Essendon Coach John Worsfold said.

“So far I think they’ve held up really well but they have got one really important game to finish off on.

"We want to finish the year playing really good footy, see what happens, aim to win and push ourselves to the limit for our last game for 2016.” 

Essendon will use Saturday’s game to recognise the contribution of the ten recruits signed since January.

There will be a series of initiatives taking place throughout the game, culminating in the recruits leading the Club towards the cheersquad and then around the ground, in a show of thanks after the game.

Click here to secure your ticket to the game.  Kids under 15 get in free.

Of those ten recruits, four played in last week’s match against the Western Bulldogs. 

Worsfold said sentiment wouldn’t extend to the selection table.

"We're not going to select the team around just saying thanks to them," Worsfold said.

"They've understood all year our selection criteria so we'll stick with that, but it is a day where we'll have them all at the ground and acknowledge them in a fairly significant way, both for our playing group and for our fans to get the chance to thank them."

Despite the unique circumstances encountered by his Club this season, Worsfold said the team has been able to achieve some key goals.

“It’s been a challenging year, but that’s every year coaching in the AFL for a variety of reasons, there is always pressure on,” Worsfold said.

“There was pressure on us this year to be a competitive team throughout the year, to learn a lot about our young players and to see some development.

“We’ve worked really hard to make sure that we’ve achieved those goals.”