ROUND eight may be Essendon's only realistic chance to record a win this season, but coach Natalie Wood is adamant she isn't going anywhere yet despite the Bombers' winless start to the season.

The Bombers sit at 0-7, and face Greater Western Sydney on Saturday in what is likely their only chance of a win this season. The Giants have won only one game, back in round one, and fell to Collingwood last week in what was the Magpies' first win of the year. 

"I've got to keep assessing my role as coach and how I'm going with that," Wood said following the Bombers’ 10-point loss to the Eagles on Friday.

"100 per cent I’ve [still] got the fire [to continue].

"It probably doesn't matter if you’re 0-7 or 7-0 or 2-3; pressure exists in the game no matter what's going on. And, yeah, the pressure's right up. 

"But, I'm in a really privileged position that for the moment I get to lead this group, lead it wholeheartedly, well-supported by the club. And the players' leadership group as well, they’re doing a fantastic job.

"So I’ll keep giving my all, until someone says otherwise.

"But I’m fronting up and am really driven to keep improving. We’ll see how we go."

We will indeed.

Essendon has only faced two top-four and a further two top-eight sides so far this year, and has also lost to Brisbane (currently 13th on the ladder, sitting at two wins and five losses), West Coast (12th, 3-4), and Richmond (10th, 4-3). 

So far, the Bombers have avoided top-two teams North Melbourne (6-1) and Melbourne (6-1), as well as sixth-placed Carlton (whose ladder position probably looks worse than the quality of their 5-2 record), but that luck runs out soon.

Before they reach the Magpies (16th, 1-6) in round 12, the Bombers also face the Western Bulldogs (seventh, 5-2), the ladder-leading Kangaroos and Hawthorn (ninth, 4-3).

While that round 12 clash may seem winnable at this stage, there's a lot still to play out.

The Pies have been slowly improving week on week while the Bombers have shown little signs of either consistency or improvement.

There's obviously still a month to go until that match up, but the two sides' trajectories are markedly different.

While one of the great beauties of footy is that any team can win on the day, it's incredibly difficult to see Essendon managing an upset win with the quality of football it has displayed so far this season.

The Bombers have shown very little on-field so far this year, with an over-reliance on Maddy Prespakis in the midfield, an inability to get the ball into their forward 50, a lack of forward potency and fumbly skills across the board.

Yes, Prespakis is in career-best form (averaging 31.3 disposals per game) but there are too few Bombers going the distance with her, and if she doesn't win the clearance there's no plan B and the Bombers start to play on the back foot.

Most worryingly, it's a team-wide inability to cope with pressure, panicking with ball in hand and becoming far too susceptible to turnovers. 

Wood knows there's a lot to work on for her side, but she's adamant there have been moments this season where her Bombers have played good footy, pointing to the first and last quarters of Friday's loss to the Eagles.

The question remains as to whether the Bombers can string enough of those moments together to be in front when the final sirens ends, at any point this season.

At the rate they're currently going, it seems unlikely even against other lowly sides.

And until moments start to be reflected in the win column rather than the loss column, the pressure will continue to build on Wood. 

Wood is out of contract at the end of the season, and while she may still have the fire, the club may have the extinguisher.