The Bombers lost by 38 points to Richmond on Saturday night and Michael Hartley suffered a hamstring injury in the third quarter.

Worsfold said Hartley was not seriously hurt but would miss a couple weeks of football, leaving the team without tall backmen.

"We don't have, at the moment, any key defenders to come in," he said.

He would consider bringing Sam Michael in to fill the spot, a player who had been rucking in the VFL.

"We've been planning on him learning his craft as a ruckman and playing forward a bit, but he can go back and hold up, so that's one we can look at."

When Essendon plays a winless Fremantle next weekend it may be their best chance to notch a second victory this season, but Worsfold denied the team was seeing it as a special opportunity.

"I want the players to keep taking risks and go for some of the tough kicks that have cost us some goals in recent weeks, but we'll keep doing it," he said.

The Bombers worked hard and managed to get the ball into their forward 50 nearly as often as Richmond, but could not convert that effort into goals.

Worsfold said it showed that his hastily thrown-together team had not yet gelled together as well as more established sides.

"All that chemistry is a long, long way off getting, but to get that many inside-50s against a pretty good team is a step forward again for us I reckon," he said.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said his team was not overly pleased with their performance, despite the win.

"We won ugly, so to speak," he said.

"All credit to Essendon, their pressure around the contest was very, very good."

Hardwick said 24-year-old Dustin Martin was in career-best form, despite being a "bit scratchy" early in the match, handballing too often and getting caught in tackles.

"He's an incredible athlete," Hardwick said. "Some of his contested ball gets, where he takes on two or three players and delivers the ball out of traffic, you can't put a value on those sort of players.

"We've probably been crying out for that inside mid player, and he's certainly put his hand up for that."