ROSS Lyon was thrilled with the performance of young defender Alex Pearce against Essendon and says the club has found a player of the future.

Pearce made his debut in the Dockers' 28-point win over the Bombers at Domain Stadium on Saturday night in place of injured All Australian defender Luke McPharlin. 

The 19-year-old was recruited from Devonport in Tasmania with pick No.37 in 2013 NAB AFL draft and is only the second player from the last two national drafts to debut for the Dockers.

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"We were thrilled with Alex Pearce," Lyon said.

"We knew he could deliver that sort of football. We know we've got one there and he'll continue to grow so that's exciting for us. 

"I thought the team really helped him with great pressure. 

"I thought he played with confidence. He went for his marks, got a fist in, ran off. 

"Above all, he's a great athlete who competes fiercely. We know he'll continue to blossom. He's a second-year player, and it's a credit to our recruiting team and developers. But one swallow doesn't make a summer does it." 

WATCH: Ross Lyon's full post-match media conference

The 200cm defender spent the majority of the night on Essendon young gun Joe Daniher and restricted him to just one goal. 

Teammate Stephen Hill told AFL.com.au the team was very confident he could come in and deliver in a pressure game.

"I thought he was really strong," Hill said. 

"I thought he really stood up down there. 

"He's been playing pretty well down at Peel so we were confident he was going to play his role coming into the side and we were very confident he could do the job."