ESSENDON coach James Hird remains confident his side can play finals football in 2012, despite losing to Adelaide in dramatic fashion on Sunday night.
The Bombers missed several opportunities to go ahead late in the game after leading by as much as 28 points late in the second quarter.
Watch the final two minutes of Sunday's nailbiter
Captain Jobe Watson missed a straight forward set shot at goal and Tayte Pears dropped a chest mark straight in front with just 15 seconds left on the clock.
But Hird was "proud" of his players and said he had no doubts they would be right in the contest until the final siren.
"We've got four games to go and we need to win one very soon, but I'm very proud of the players and the way they played, they certainly turned up to play," Hird said.
"Our boys have been terrific all year, in their resilience, the way they've fought through, they've been through a hard pre-season, they've worked hard and we knew they were going to stay in the game."
With four games remaining and 11 wins on the board, Hird admitted the Bombers would probably need to win two matches to make the eight.
While insisting he would never be satisfied with a loss, Hird said the style of football the Bombers played on Sunday would see them earn a finals berth.
"The message to our players is I was proud of the way they played, but we're never happy with a loss," he said.
"We've gone through a bit of a form slump over the last month … but certainly our football this week against Adelaide was of a much higher quality.
"With that sort of quality you win more games than you lose."
Essendon beat Adelaide in nearly every key stat; winning contested possession, inside 50s and scoring shots, but Hird pointed out the most telling statistic.
"We lost the important one though - that's goals kicked," he said.
"The game was played the way we wanted to play, we just couldn't kick enough goals to win."
The four-point loss and missed opportunity to move a game clear of North Melbourne into seventh spot on the ladder was further soured with two new soft tissue injuries - this time to Jason Winderlich and Ben Howlett.
Both are thought to have suffered torn hamstrings and add to an incredible number of Bombers who have endured similar injuries this year.
Winderlich was on fire in his 100th game, booting four goals before he was forced off.
Despite the two injuries, Hird was optimistic about the quality that could return to Essendon's line up for its vital match against North Melbourne next week.
Whoever wins the game will hold onto a position in the eight, while the loser could be forced out if Fremantle beats the Crows.
Hird said he expected up to five key players back in the side.
"Dustin Fletcher will come back, Angus Monfries will come back, Stewart Crameri will come back, Brent Stanton's a very good chance … Michael Hibberd's a good chance, so we've got four or five very good players to come back," he said.
Harry Thring covers news for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry
