RODNEY Eade concedes his players might be running out of legs, but has challenged them to lift for the final three weeks or risk being passed in the club's pecking order.

Gold Coast was overrun by Richmond last weekend, conceding 14 goals to three after half-time on the way to an 83-point loss.

It cut short a strong run of performances, including a win over the Brisbane Lions and draw against West Coast, despite being undermanned through injury.

The Suns play Essendon at Metricon Stadium on Saturday, and Eade said he expected a better showing than what they put up against Richmond.

"I think there's been a lot of improvement as a team and individually, but it dropped away a bit at the weekend," Eade said.

"It's just getting back to having that effort. If the result doesn't come, as long as we've got the effort across the board.

"There was a few blokes running on empty, fatigue-wise, players that have carried the load the whole year, you could see the way they were running.

"The test is how you respond to that."

During the week the Suns lost Trent McKenzie (hamstring) and Jarrod Harbrow (shoulder) for the season, while ruckman Tom Nicholls (knee) is also unlikely to return.

Power forward Charlie Dixon will also miss against the Bombers with a recurring ankle problem.

Eade said his depleted squad had to respond over the final three weeks.

"Even if we don't get another win, to get the effort we've had for the previous eight or nine weeks, and we can see some players growing," he said.

"I've got no doubt they'll get some impetus into next year. Players don't want to drop away because other players will go past them."

Eade said he was expecting the Bombers' best after a tumultuous week that saw the departure of coach James Hird.

"Generally history shows teams have a spike with a change of coach," he said.

"More than anything they'll probably get freed up and let the players play with their natural instincts. So that's always a difficult one to prepare for us.

"They've still got a lot of talent in their side, so you actually prepare for their best, individually and collectively."