STRINGER SIDELINED IN ANOTHER BLOW FOR DONS

ESSENDON has suffered another blow in its season from hell with power forward Jake Stringer injuring his hamstring again.

Stringer will be sidelined for up to a month after scans revealed he had strained his hamstring in the clash with the Bulldogs on Sunday.

“Scans today have confirmed the strain is to his right hamstring, which is the different side to his previous hamstring injury,” Essendon general manager of football Josh Mahoney said. “This is a reasonably standard 3-4 week injury, and Jake will use this time on the sidelines to ensure a full recovery to return for a strong second half of the season.”

Essendon is sitting 1-6 this year and faces Hawthorn on Saturday.

The loss of Stringer follows another disappointing display against the Bulldogs in round 7.

Big forward Peter Wright, one of the few consistent Bombers this year, agreed that the team was not getting things right. “We are all really frustrated as a playing group, and feel the frustration of the fans, but I think we are really excited by the challenge of responding and looking forward to Saturday night against the Hawks,” Wright said on Tuesday.

“I thought our effort on the weekend was there, our intent to get things done the right way was there.

“We have full in faith in the way we are playing, and our method.

“It was just some really costly errors and little mistakes that against a quality side like the Bulldogs, they always make you hurt on the rebound.”

When asked how the Essendon midfield group was reacting to outside noise, Wright said little mistakes were hurting them in the context of their game plan.

“We don’t think they are stat chasing or anything like that,” he said of outside criticism.