Essendon champion Scott Lucas has identified North Melbourne’s contested ball winning ability as a key strength the Dons will need to be wary of when the sides meet at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The Bombers are coming off two straight wins while the Kangaroos have dropped their last six, including four by 19 points or less.

Despite sitting 17th on the ladder, Ben Cunnington is ranked number three in the competition for contested possessions while Ben Brown has kicked 41 goals to sit third overall.

The Roos have also beaten the Bombers in each of their last four meetings.

The Dons last win over North Melbourne came in round one 2014 when Zach Merrett, Martin Gleeson and Patrick Ambrose made thier debut and Joe Daniher was in just his sixth game.

“You must respect North – while their wins and losses isn’t great they have been in a lot of the games they’ve lost,” Lucas said.

“They’ve got some very good contested ball/inside players.

“They’ve got a talented forward line with Brown and Waite comes back into the team so they’ve got some options up there.”

Lucas said the Bombers should look to use their speed to test the Kangaroos midfield.

The Dons sit in tenth spot on the ladder and will be looking to record three straight wins for the first since 2014. 

“The speed of their (Essendon) ball movement up against North is a real asset,” Lucas said.

“If they don’t win, then they don’t play finals, it’s as simple as that.

“With the run home it’s going to require four or five wins.

“It’s a must win game and a game the team should win on the back of some very good form last week.”