Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy has hit back at critics who believe his current side has a poor track record on the road. ""Let’s face it, 14 players aren’t here from 1999, so you move on and we see if we can get it right,"" Sheedy stated.

""In 2002 I think there was about eight changes, nearly a third of a side almost half a side. We’ve cleared a lot of players since then,"" he said.

Essendon’s most recent experience at AAMI Stadium was in Round 1. It is a match the Bombers would prefer to forget, despite being severely undermanned, they were still disgraced by Port Adelaide by 96-points. The team will be keen to vastly improve on that result and Sheedy agrees that its time for the club to perform across the border.

""I just don’t think Adelaide has really seen Essendon play that well. The city and the footy fans. We’ve got to lift our act in that department,"" he said. ""We’re a better club and a better side than that and here’s our best chance to play.

""We are going to take over a pretty good side this Friday night. Most of the players that would be in our best side are getting fit and getting more available each week,"" Sheedy indicated.

There was good news on the training track this afternoon with skipper James Hird completing the session and showing no sign of a knee injury. Mark McVeigh and Damian Cupido also trained strongly and are both a chance to return to the senior side.

The Essendon coach also indicated that Cupido and Nathan Lovett-Murray could form an exciting new forward structure. He said that the only way to find out if they can play together is to pick them in the same side.

""We’ll put Murphy and Rioli down there too and we won’t know where the ball is going. Neither will they,"" quipped Sheedy.