John Worsfold says Essendon has no right to have success quicker than other teams just because they’re a “big-name club”.
Saturday’s 50-point loss to Port Adelaide means the Bombers have won just one of their past nine matches with their finals hopes in 2020 all but dashed.
"I understand that Essendon people think that Essendon should be better, but they've also got to understand that the competition challenges clubs now to work to the same rules - the same rules of the draft and the salary cap," Worsfold told reporters post-game.
"No one team has any more right to be successful quicker than any other team, just because they're a big-name club.
"You've got to knuckle down and commit to doing the work and good clubs will do that and come out of it with success."
The outgoing Essendon coach was satisfied with the effort from his young side against the ladder leaders.
"For big parts of the game, we took it right up to them. But their class was too much in the end,” Worsfold said.
"You're talking about a team that is right in the premiership window in terms of age and experience and they don't travel at the moment, they're living at home and they're playing a very inexperienced team that is trying to learn and trying to learn without getting the opportunity to really train together.
"The facts are that we're well below where we want to be, but that's through a lot of factors other than understanding what we're trying to do and committing to it. That's not the reason for where we're at.
"Pretty much all year we've had seven or eight of our first 22 out of the team."