Essendon ruckman Matthew Allan says controlling his in-form Bulldog counterpart in Luke Darcy will be a key to the Bombers prevailing at The Dome tomorrow night. ""Darcy is a terrific player – he has been one of the best ruckmen in the league for the last six or more seasons,"" Allan said. ""The Bulldogs have recruited well with getting Peter Street, so David (Hille) and I will have to be on the ball.""

After a slow start to the season, the Bombers have won its past four matches. The team is slowly getting its depth back with only Ben Haynes (thigh), Courtney Johns (hip) and Joel Reynolds (glandular fever) on the injury list. Allan believes that the return of experienced players has definitely played a big part in the Bombers’ turn around.

""Early on in the year we had a number of key players out. We went over to Adelaide and played Port Adelaide who is pretty hard to beat over there. Slowly we are getting our side together,"" Allan said. ""We still have some very good players to come back, but we are finding our feet each week. It has been good to be able to win with a couple of important players out.""

The Bulldogs recorded one of their best comeback performances last week against the Kangaroos. They came from seven goals down late in the third term to win by just one point. They will take form and confidence into this game.

""In my opinion, the Bulldogs could quite easily be four (wins) and two (losses). They have a good spine with Chris Grant back and Jade Rawlings up in the forwardline. It is going to be a pretty good game to watch,"" he said.

Allan hasn’t looked back since coming to Essendon late last year. The 29-year-old hasn’t missed a game and has been a solid contributor each week. ""I have said before that I am very lucky to come to a club like Essendon. I have missed a lot of footy over the last couple of years so I am still finding my feet out there again. I am pretty happy that I am contributing in the side.

""I did come over with a body that hadn’t stood up to league footy in a fair while. We have a good fitness coach in John Quinn and a lot of smart coaches around the place – I have had a managed pre-season and the body feels as good as it has for a long time,"" Allan said.