ESSENDON will be missing up to five or six players from its team that beat Carlton when it plays Collingwood on Anzac Day, Bombers coach James Hird says.

Hird had no hesitation in declaring the Bombers' 30-point win over Carlton at the MCG on Saturday their best of the season. But he barely had time to savour the win before looking to Wednesday's game.

Hird said key forward Michael Hurley would almost certainly miss against Collingwood after suffering a minor hamstring strain against the Blues.

"'Hurls' is a bit like the other little injuries we're getting at the moment - they're not bad, they're not even what you would call a tear in the hamstring, but it's just niggly little things that will in all honesty almost definitely keep him out of Wednesday," Hird said.

But Hird made it clear Hurley would not be the only Bomber from Saturday's 22 watching the Anzac Day game from the crowd.

"We haven't got any more strains, or any more knocks, or more significant things, but you'd have to think that out of the 22 there will be five or six who won't get up for the Collingwood game in four days' time just because of the nature of [Saturday's] game," Hird said.

"It was a very hard contested game and we were very happy we won the game because you can leave a lot out on the field and it can cost you in four days' time.

"I'm not sure how Collingwood went [against Port Adelaide] but hopefully theirs was a fairly tough game as well."

Travis Colyer, Courtenay Dempsey, Kyle Reimers, Jake Carlisle, Henry Slattery and rookie Mark Baguley were among the players who would be considered to come into the Bombers' Anzac Day team, Hird said.

Meanwhile, Hird paid tribute to his team's intensity and the self-belief it showed against Carlton, saying it had regularly failed against the competition's powerhouse teams and on its biggest stage, the MCG, last year.

"We were disappointing last year on the MCG and we've been disappointing in probably our last three games against Carlton and Collingwood and Hawthorn, and last year's big games," Hird said.

"Probably Anzac Day last year was the last time we really gave ourselves a chance in a big game out at the 'G and the boys wanted to correct that and to show that they've improved.

"And we've been about improvement for the last 18 months and I think whoever saw that game today would have to say we're a better team than this time last year."

Hird also lauded his players' ability to believe in, and stick to, a game-plan that involved denying Carlton's key midfielders such as Chris Judd, Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs time and space.

Nick Bowen is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @AFL_Nick.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs