MELBOURNE midfielder Jack Trengove will face Essendon on Friday night at the MCG and says the Demons are out to prove they are not soft.

Trengove admitted the clash was significant for the club after it had lost its past three games and slid to 10th on the ladder.

"The last few weeks, it hasn't been up to standard so we're going to be trying to prove to ourselves we can do it," he said on Thursday.

"Friday night, there's no better time to play and we're looking forward to putting on a good show."

Trengove said the Demons were keen to make a statement, particularly after their recent verbal stoush with Carlton players regarding their toughness.

"We're just focusing on playing Essendon this week and when we play Carlton later in the year, we'll deal with that then," he said.

"Obviously you don't want to be labelled soft so we'll be trying to prove that point wrong this weekend."

He said he was confident in his match fitness despite missing the past three weeks with suspension. 

The 19-year-old was forced to watch the Demons' past three matches after his dangerous tackle against Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield in round seven that saw the Crows' forward concussed and unable to return to the field.

The Demons challenged the match review panel's verdict at the tribunal, and when that failed they went to the appeals board.

The sanction stood, and Dangerfield played the following week and kicked six goals against Gold Coast.

Trengove said while he had spent his weekends off running with Lynden Dunn, who had also been suspended, he had not worried about working on his tackling technique.

"It's probably something that's a real sort of instinctive thing so it's hard to change, in a way," he said.

"I'll probably just tackle the same way and just try and prevent any concussion because that's the real issue in it, I think."

Trengove said he understood his tackle had stood out from similar actions shown on the football field in recent weeks because of the immediate injury sustained by Dangerfield. 

"I suppose they're similar in a way but their opponent didn't get concussed and couldn't play for the rest of the game," he said.

"As long as that doesn't happen, I should be all right."

Essendon captain Jobe Watson and key position player Michael Hurley are likely to be named on Thursday night but will still need to prove their fitness on Friday ahead of the game.

Heath Hocking will be out of the side with suspension.

Trengove said the Demons did not consider the Bombers vulnerable despite the fact they are emerging from the bye and will have at least one of those three unavailable.

He said his side would focus on putting pressure on the ball carrier in an attempt to win their first game since round seven.

"They've got a great team. They've showed this year that they've started off really well and they've got a lot of depth in their midfield," he said.

"No matter what team they throw up, they're going to have a good team on the park so we'll just have to deal with that."

He also said the Demons had an idea of how best to counter-attack the Bombers' three talls - Paddy Ryder, Tom Bellchambers and David Hille - despite having just Stef Martin and potential debutant Max Gawn in their own big man stocks.

"Obviously that's worked really well for them, having three talls and we've got a few things in place that I'm sure will be good to put up against them because it's something that's working well for them," he said.