ESSENDON won't be distracted by Kevin Sheedy's "tricks" or the lure of an easy win against Greater Western Sydney on Saturday, says coach James Hird.

For the first time Hird will coach against Sheedy, Hird's only AFL coach in his 17-year career at the Bombers.

But the romantic nature of the meeting means little to Hird, who is striving to further his club's brilliant start to the season with a win over the Giants at Skoda Stadium.

Instead of thinking about Sheedy, Hird said he had concentrated more on the Giants' young batch of players, like early draft picks Stephen Coniglio and Dom Tyson.

Hird, however, understands that Sheedy knows him, assistants Mark Thompson and Sean Wellman, and a majority of Essendon's playing list very well.

Hird said it was a matter of Essendon not letting its guard down against Sheedy and the Giants, something he doesn't expect to be a problem.  

"I can't see why our guys would be complacent," Hird said on Friday.

"We're trying to do something, we're trying to go somewhere. We're not anywhere near there yet, and we haven't been there for a long time.

"You just can't afford to be complacent. You can build a year and we're trying to build that. Our guys understand that."

Essendon's players this week have been given extra background on their opponents to prepare themselves for the game, with Hird admitting knowledge of their opponents was relatively limited. 

"We've watched the eight games they've played to make sure we have a very good handle on the players," he said.

"You [normally] get a form line on a team over two or three years but this week we've put a lot of time into who they are and how they play."

Essendon will make the trip to Sydney on Friday afternoon without Dyson Heppell, who misses his first game in two seasons at the club with a knee injury.

Hird said the 20-year-old had been carrying the problem and could also be unavailable for next week's meeting with Melbourne.

"Dyson got a knock to his knee three weeks ago and it's just got sorer and sorer," Hird said.

"We'll give him a week, or maybe even two weeks, to get over that. It's nothing serious but it's an injury that if you don't step on it pretty quickly, can get worse."

Hird said defender Dustin Fletcher, who will miss the Giants' clash with an adductor strain, "should" play against the Demons.

Callum Twomey is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey