ESSENDON has no added concerns about the long-term welfare of star midfielder Zach Merrett despite three head knocks in the space of seven weeks, coach John Worsfold says.
Merrett sustained a concussion in the first quarter of Friday night's game against Adelaide and did not return to the field after being poleaxed in a bump by Crow Richard Douglas.
Douglas was reported for rough conduct for the incident that left Merrett bleeding from the mouth.
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Merrett suffered a case of blurred vision when he copped a head knock against Richmond in the Bombers' first JLT Community Series game on February 23, while he was forced from the track briefly after a knock to the head at training in January.
Asked if he was worried by the frequency of the head knocks to his star player, Worsfold was pragmatic in his response.
"I'm not sure, because I honestly don't know how bad the other ones were so we took a pretty cautious position with him," Worsfold said.
"I can't answer that, I'm not a doctor obviously."
Five talking points: Essendon v Adelaide
Worsfold said Merrett was walking around in the rooms and was in a good state after the match.
"I saw him briefly and he was upbeat and he looks really well," Worsfold said.
"In that regard, in the way he looks and the way he was talking he's really excited (by the win), so that was a good sign."
WATCH: Merrett hit hard by Richard Douglas
The Bombers coach was not prepared to comment on the bump by Douglas which will be assessed by Match Review Officer Michael Christian.
The Bombers erased a 20-point three-quarter time deficit, booting six of the last seven goals to claim victory by 12 points.
Worsfold said he always had confidence his team could come from behind at the final change.
Crow reported as star Don down and out early
"We shouldn't have been 20 points down, in my opinion at three-quarter time," Worsfold said.
"Not through the way we were playing and the effort we were putting in, but we'd coughed up way too many balls that allowed Adelaide to take that lead.
"We basically said we've just got to believe in ourselves. We said we can't play safe, we just needed to keep playing our way.
"We'd seen enough to say that we could outscore them in the last quarter."
WATCH: John Worsfold's full post match media conference
David Zaharakis, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Andrew McGrath, Adam Saad and Conor McKenna were crucial in providing the run the Bombers needed, while the Crows tired quickly and could not hold onto their lead.
Prized recruits Jake Stringer, Devon Smith and Saad all did their bit in the win and Worsfold said they all fitted into the team dynamic.
"It's hard to put a finger on their individual performances because I'm looking at the way we're playing as a team. But suffice to say we brought those guys in to play roles for us and I thought they knew their roles and they all stuck to those roles and added value to the way we wanted to play.”
