ESSENDON chairman Paul Little and suspended coach James Hird deny a rift exists over the club's handling of the supplements scandal.
Hird has testified that he disagreed with repeated public statements from Little and his predecessor David Evans about the club's decision to report its 2012 supplements program to the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and the League, but had agreed to toe the Bombers' party line.
But at the conclusion of the Federal Court hearing on Wednesday, Hird said he still enjoyed a strong relationship with the club hierarchy.
"There's been a lot of silly things said in the paper, but I fully support Paul and his board and they've been terrific of late," Hird told reporters.
Little said Hird would "absolutely" return to coach the club next year, with his AFL-imposed ban to expire at the end of this month.
"It's a very positive 2015 that we're looking forward to," Little said.
However, Little said he expected to meet with AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan in an effort to repair the spat between the club and the League.
"We've been trying for some time now to improve our relationship with them and them with us," he said.
"I think Gill's got a tough job to carry on that side of the relationship building."
Little said Essendon still faced a series of "small obstacles", but said the club would try to keep the players' focus away from the legal battle.
"We've tried to separate the whole time the players from this legal action," he said.
"We're just asking the players to focus on getting us into the finals."
Justice John Middleton will decide whether to set aside show-cause notices alleging doping by 34 past and present Essendon players.
James Hird and Essendon chairman Paul Little face the media on Wednesday. Picture: Getty Images
