WHATEVER clouds there were hovering over Windy Hill on Monday morning, Essendon speedster Jason Winderlich was trying hard to look only at their silver lining.

Despite the Bombers suffering a five-point loss to Richmond on Sunday – one Winderlich admitted was “probably” the most disappointing of the season – Essendon is still in the race for a finals berth.

The Bombers are clinging to eighth position on the table, and despite facing a tough run home over the final five weeks of the season, the midfielder is pleased he and his teammates will control whether they will see any September action.

“At the end of the day, results fell our way in the end with Adelaide winning,” Winderlich said at Windy Hill.

“So our dream’s still alive, and we’re still in the eight. It was disappointing to lose, but now our destiny’s in our own hands. I think that’s a good thing.

“If we do happen to make the finals, it’ll be good to earn our spot and not just luckily get in there.”

The Bombers will have to play well to hold off the challengers in the race to September, with Hawthorn and Port Adelaide also vying for what is likely to be the final top-eight position on offer.

Making Essendon’s task that much tougher is an injury to skipper Matthew Lloyd, who bruised a heel against the Tigers and will miss at least one match.

This week Matthew Knights’ team faces a trip to Subiaco to play West Coast – one of two trips west in the final rounds of the season – as well as matches against St Kilda, Hawthorn and the Brisbane Lions.

Winderlich thinks despite going down to Richmond, his team will deserve its place in the eight should it get there.

“We prefer to win as many games as we can in the last five rounds to ensure that we do earn our spot and not just rely on results like what happened over the weekend,” he said.

“I think we’ve played some terrific football so far this year, and we’ve really earned our spot in the eight so far, other than yesterday.

“We’ll win as many games as we can in the last five rounds and hopefully earn a spot.”