It wasn't always pretty, but Essendon will be happy to take another four points.

In dewy conditions, the overall contest between the Dons and Richmond lacked polish, but a 23-point win from Brad Scott's men showed maturity in the wake of a disappointing result the week prior.

Alongside Yiooken Award winner Nic Martin (35 disposals, two goals), Scott fronted the media to discuss the Bombers' response, a riveting debut from Angus Clarke, and the potential opportunities ahead for more youngsters with the side's injuries.

Scott on… standing up from 'early struggle', getting a response after last week

We’ve been resilient and won some close games – that’s a good foundation from which to build.

My focus is on preparing this team for the team they want to be. We set the game up to win every game we play – anything is possible in this competition. The result is what it is, and we focus on what we’re trying to build.

Yeah, I thought early on it was a struggle.

I mean, to Richmond’s credit, they were up for the game and we clearly needed a response from our guys. It was a little bit of a challenge out there tonight holding your feet, it was a bit greasy and the ball was a bit of a challenge to sort of contain, but I thought we hung in there really well.

As it often is for us, you know, it took us a while to grind away and that's not the worst thing for us, because we know we're not a finished product, we're not where we want to be as a team, but we've got to continue to keep taking steps forward towards that.

The grind is part of that and it certainly was a grind for three-and-a-bit quarters tonight.

(Tackling and intent) was a big focus for us. I didn't think we last week we had a lack of pressure, we actually had reasonable pressure, but we weren't able to follow through on that pressure and create turnovers.

On a number of occasions tonight, the pressure and tackling intent forced turnovers and it was probably the difference in us being able to score.

Scott on… the kids, Clarke’s debut

We continue to build, whether it's Nate Caddy or Isaac Kako or Archer Day-Wicks - who is out of the team this week - those guys haven't played any footy together, really. It’s a work in progress, but another step forward tonight.

No, I don't think (Clarke exceeded my expectations), which is saying something.

We've seen what he's been able to do at training and through the VFL, I think the VFL program have done a terrific job getting him ready to come in and perform at AFL level.

While clearly, we've had some challenges on the availability front, we don't want to bring players in unless we feel they're ready to play and we felt Angus was ready.

In terms of his effort and intent to execute the role, he did exactly as we thought he would.

Martin on… leaders, Durham’s influence

I think it's our responsibility as leaders of this club to have a calm head out there and sort of lead these boys who haven't had the experience so far.

When you have leaders like Zach and Andy, it's really easy to follow them. They lead by example and lead with action.

Would I like the game to be sort of sealed at three-quarter-time? I'd love to, but the reality is it's a tough competition, so we don't expect to roll teams over and I think it's a strength of our group, how resilient we are.

Yeah, (Durham) was so good. I love playing with Sam and how combative he is - especially after last week, we sort of wanted a response in in our pressure, intent and tackle, he set the scene as well as Caldwell, Perkins as well when inside, so they were great.

Martin on... Clarke 

He’s such a hard-nosed player from the country that we really love and he's a young Redman, we sort of call him.

He's from the same sort of area and he always wants to learn, which is a great trait to have, and he's curious, so we love that about him.

(Even the) way he came in and just said to the boys, clear out the 50, I've got this, boys, let me have it.

I sort of said to him, mate, three (goals on debut) isn't five, but good effort.

In the VFL, he's had those chances, he just hasn't put him away, so he chose a great night to do it.

Scott on… availability challenges

I held the coaching group back a little bit post-game.

As I said, there's going to be challenges, but this is what we're here for. I mean, this is a coaching opportunity for us, we need to think differently. You know, we may need to recast some players in different positions, but the key is how we coach that and get them ready for that.

It's not just a matter of moving the magnets, it’s about preparing players to play, you know, slightly different roles. And of course, we don't want to lose players to injury, but, you know, six debutants so far this year and likely more to come.

We like what we've seen from some of our draftees and some of our other untried players in the VFL, so we'll certainly all be there tomorrow night (in Frankston) having a look. It'll be a busy week, short turnaround, mid-season draft, a lot of work to do.

For our Club, we are trying to take steps forward to being the team we want to be, and part of that is exposing young and new players into our team. We couldn’t be happier with the players who have made their debuts this year and we’ve got to find more.

Scott on… Reid, Langford, Cox

Zach Reid, we're not even sure it's an injury. 

When the medical staff says, 'Reidy’ can almost sense something with his hamstring, he feels something', we just have no choice at this stage of his career with his injury history. We just took him off and ruled him out.

Fingers crossed with that one, but we won't be able to update or give you a conclusive answer until we've had scans.

Probably the same with Langford in the case of scans, but when you feel your quad kicking, especially from outside 50, it's hard to believe he doesn't have a quad strain. More optimistic with Reid, but concern for Langford.  

It's so disappointing, frustrating and challenging for (Cox). But I said to him pre-game in the rooms, football is really important, we play in this unbelievable competition, but there are things that are more important. 

We'll just give Nik all the time he needs. We're hopeful he'll get back soon, but we won't compromise his health. The game's taken great strides forward in that regard. I was told during the week there's been a number of players forced into retirement by concussion – is that a bad thing? Well, 20 years ago, that didn't happen.

We put players at risk for the rest of their lives, and it's actually a positive from my point of view, because we're identifying it and looking after the players better than we ever have.