There aren't any alarm bells ringing at Windy Hill after Essendon slumped to its fourth defeat in succession on Saturday, but coach James Hird admits his team's inefficiency with the ball has become an issue that must be addressed.

The Bombers got off to a poor start against North Melbourne with their wayward kicking seeing them register eight behinds before Paddy Ryder kicked their only goal for the opening term after the siren.
 

Although Hird didn't think his players' ball use was the key factor in the 21-point defeat to the Roos, he pinpointed it as the main issue that has dogged Essendon during its recent run of losses.
 

""There's no doubt we need to use the ball better,"" Hird said. ""We need to use it better going forward. That's the theme to me. 

""We're not doing that, but we're developing a group that can use the ball well, we're developing a group that can defend well and we're developing a group that can play the game the way that we want to play.

""It's not there at the moment, but we'll get there.""

Statistics suggest the coach is onto something. The Bombers go inside 50 just over 60 times a game, which ranks them second in the competition behind Collingwood, but haven't registered a score greater than 90 points in their past four games.

""There's no doubt we need to develop more composure around the ball and use the ball better with that last kick, whether that be at goal or an inside 50,"" Hird said.

""Kicking so many points is always frustrating and I think our start was frustrating too. That's two weeks in a row that we haven't started well and that was disappointing, but you never like to lose a game so it's just disappointing.""

Essendon has also registered more clangers, 10 more than North on Saturday, in three of its past four games.

Hird admitted his team's high injury toll didn't help the cause, but refused to use the losses of Heath Hocking (concussion) and Cale Hooker (hamstring) as an excuse for the defeat.

Hooker is set to miss three weeks, but Hocking was lucid at half-time after being stretchered off in the second quarter after a collision with Cameron Delaney.

Michael Hurley kicked four goals despite appearing to struggle with a calf injury, but Hird said the 21-year-old would be available to play against Hawthorn on Friday night at the MCG.

""Hurls had a tight calf, but he's fine,"" he said.

""He played very well. He's a great competitor, Michael, and we missed him for the four weeks that he was out, but he'll come up for next week.""

The loss puts the Bombers, who sat in third place after round eight, in danger of slipping out of the top eight with the resurgent Roos now nipping at their heels just two points behind them.

Hird denied the run of outs had sapped the confidence of his players.

""The guys want to win and they're disappointed that they haven't won for four weeks, but I wouldn't say that their confidence is shot,"" he said.

""We understand where we are, we understand that we're a developing team and there's a lot of work to go before we get to where we want to get to. The players understand that too.

""I don't think the confidence is gone.""

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