Essendon coach Brad Scott addressed 21-year-old Elijah Tstatas' recent selection.
Tstatas has been performing well in the VFL with a 34 disposal and 10 tackle game last weekend against Williamstown during Essendon's 13-point loss.
However, the midfielder is not expected to be called up given Darcy Parish, Jye Caldwell and Mason Redman are all expected to be available for this week.
“He's very, very good at what he does well and there are some parts of his game that we are working with him to improve,” Scott said.
"When you're an inside midfielder, you need to be one of the best players in the competition.
“Zac Bailey's an All-Australian half forward who quite explicitly and publicly wants to be an inside midfielder, but yet he can't get into an inside midfield on a permanent basis in a very good side.
Scott went on to use Patrick Cripps preferred position on the field as a comparison and stated that when inside midfielder “is your primary role you got to be very, very good at it”, to be able to play there every week.
After the comments 20-year-old Nate Caddy made about the state of the club post-game last week, Scott addressed that all clubs go through losing stints.
Essendon currently sit 17th on the ladder with a 1-7 record and are coming off an underwhelming year where they went 6-17 on their way to a 15th placed finish.
"Even the best teams in the competition over time- they win two out of every three weeks on average, that means there's going to be some disappointment on the way,” Scott said.
"No one enjoys not winning every week and it's incredibly difficult.
While he went on to compare the media and the criticism around the club to a “roller coaster, you can choose to ride it or you can jump off”, and ignore it.
The Bombers will take on the 14th place (3-5) Giants- who are coming off a 20-point loss to the Gold Coast suns last week and are looking to turn their season award.
