Essendon are sweating on scan results after in-form midfielder David Zaharakis suffered a shoulder injury in their AFL shocker against Richmond.
A crunching tackle sidelined Zaharakis in the first quarter of Saturday night's Dreamtime At The 'G clash and there are fears he suffered a broken left collarbone.
The annual dreamtime clash was a nightmare for the Bombers, who went down to Richmond by 71 points following big wins over Geelong and GWS.
"He'll have a scan, but I think they (medical staff) are hopeful that it's not (a break)," said coach John Worsfold.
"It's disappointing, he's having a very good year."
Essendon kept pace with Richmond in most statistics - disposals, inside 50s and tackles - but could only manage six goals to the Tigers' 17.
It is their lowest score since round three last season, when Carlton also held Essendon to six goals in wet conditions.
"It's a really good opportunity to have a look at why we couldn't get a score on the board," Worsfold said.
"The game was pretty even in a lot of the numbers, except for kicking goals, basically."
Worsfold said even in their wins over the Cats and Giants, Essendon's scoring had not been as good as he would like.
Essendon's forwards often played too far up the ground, meaning easy pickings for the Richmond defenders when the Bombers went inside 50.
"It's an overall understanding of why they felt the need to keep going right up to those (midfield) contests," Worsfold said.
"I don't think we've scored as well as we should in the last two weeks.
"For the amount of footy we had, we still didn't function brilliantly, or as well as I think we can."
In his 100th game, high-profile recruit Jake Stringer was a rare highlight for the Bombers.
He had 16 contested possessions and nine clearances, which were game highs.
"He's been pretty solid. Everyone has questioned him all the way along, but he's been a pretty good player for us in a lot of games," Worsfold said.
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