Essendon VFL will have to be at its best to defeat Collingwood on Sunday, according to Performance Coach Dan Jordan.

The Bombers are in sixth position on the ladder while the Pies are 11th, but just one win separates the two sides.

“They’ve had a really good month of footy and they’ve beaten some quality sides in the competition.” Jordan said.

“They are in good form so we will have to be at the top of our game to be able to beat them.

“We will go in with a similar game plan, with regards to trying to move the ball quickly.

“They have some really good quality talls up forward and also a really good midfield so we are going to have to be on our game.

“No doubt they’ll be looking for another scalp on Sunday, which we will obviously be trying to get ourselves.”

The Magpies made a slow start to the season, losing five of their first six games.

In round two, the last time the two sides met, the Dons claimed an 80 point victory.

But the Pies are building and have beaten four of the top six sides in the last six weeks. 

“It can often happen with young guys in your side and particularly with injuries,” Jordan said.

“They were pretty slow to get going but they’re a top four side from last year and I think they are starting to get back to some of that form.”

Jordan said the evenness of the competition makes games crucial at this stage of the season.

“I suppose every result is really important and it comes down to every quarter being really important in games,” Jordan said.

“If there was ever a season where you think you can drop five per cent for a quarter of a game, then this is certainly proving that this isn’t the case.

“We need to bring the mindset of going out and playing four quality quarters and play the way that we want to play, and hopefully get the result.

“The old cliché – eight point game rings out pretty true in most of the games, particularly in the back half of the year.”

Essendon has named an extended squad of 31 players, which will be cut down to 23 on match day. 

“At the moment we have selected a squad because both AFL and VFL games are on the Sunday,” he said.

“We will go in,with pretty much the same side as last week and get a few others back in the squad.

“We will make those final decisions after a few fitness tests on Saturday morning but I would imagine it’s relatively unchanged.”