ESSENDON coach Matthew Knights has praised his charges for the spine they have shown this season to fight back and still be in the race for the top eight – despite being on the wrong end of some significant margins.

Knights says he has been surprised by just how well the Bombers have stuck to their task this season when a young side – as injury-hit as his has been at times – could have thrown in the towel.

"I mean we ran into a Mack truck called Geelong in round two after a good win in round one and that was 99 [points]," Knights said.

"Anzac Day … was really disappointing when we got cleaned up.

"In Sydney it was about eight points down halfway through the third quarter and we got smacked, but the character and the resilience has been strong."

Despite suffering some heavy losses this year, Essendon has won seven matches to be just two games behind sixth-placed Collingwood.

In his first season at Windy Hill, Knights said he would never underestimate his players' positive attitude.

"What I’ve learnt about this group is their resilience, they’re a wonderfully resilient group," Knights said.

"Right from Matthew Lloyd to Dustin Fletcher, to Sam Lonergan and Kyle Reimers and David Myers … they’re extremely resilient.

"Even during that tough period where we were losing games, their confidence was amazing, the way they trained and even the way they kept taking the game on."

While Knights didn’t mention finals on Wednesday, he said he could pinpoint two key matches – though both losses – as turning points in his side’s promising year.

"The first one was the Richmond game, where I got a bit animated and we had some really honest discussions during the game, after the game and on the Monday morning," he said.

"And then the Adelaide game. After that was a real shift in the way we were playing in just getting a better balance, being more balanced around the contest."

Knights said his young players were developing and "still nowhere near what the really good sides" were, but he believes his team’s willingness to learn will hold them in good stead for the future.

"They’re a very coachable group in the way that they can be challenged," he said.

"I can give them really honest feedback and really direct feedback that’s quite blunt yet they respond, they don’t take it personally."