ESSENDON coach Matthew Knights had warned his players to expect a fired-up Richmond and, even though they trailed by 16 points at the main break, was confident of his side's second-half revival.

Kicking 12 goals to three, the Bombers overran the hapless Tigers to win Saturday night's Dreamtime at the 'G clash by 40 points.

"We spoke about a number of things, including our composure inside 50," he said.

"I felt going inside 50 in the first-half we were too rushed and weren’t making most of our opportunities.

"I was confident we would be able to certainly address our form line at half time."

Knights was wary of Richmond after that club's tumultuous week – which saw coach Terry Wallace incorrectly reported as sacked – and was pleased with how his team responded to the challenge.

The Tigers, narrow losers to Port Adelaide last week, hit the contest strongly and led by as much as 22 points in the second term.

"They were fluent and fast-moving in the first half and we weren’t able to combat it," Knights said.

"But we got going and played very good footy ourselves in the second half and we were able to capitalise."

Knights continues to be disappointed by the Bombers' slow starts to matches but was quick to praise the effort of his midfielders to provide the spark needed for a comeback.

"We had to start winning some ball around the centre … which allowed our running game to get moving," he said.

"We got a better surge mentality and we started to push the ball forward."

Knights also saw his forward line's ability to lock the ball inside 50 as crucial in turning the game.

"I thought our forwards in the second half were excellent in stifling Richmond. It just took the edge off the Richmond counter-attack," he said.

Essendon now turns its attention to its match against undefeated Geelong next Sunday, however, Knights vowed to not get too ahead of himself this time around.

"Last year (in round two), I stuck my chin out and said we will take them on and then 99 points later, I woke up," he said.

"We look forward to the contest. It’s going to be great for our young players."

Defender Courtenay Dempsey and utility Adam McPhee, who were hampered by ankle injuries on Saturday night, should be available to play.