Star Essendon forward Michael Hurley admits accusations by Mark Thompson his AFL side buckle under the pressure of big games is on the money.

The two-time Geelong premiership mentor and now senior assistant at the Bombers said after their recent loss to North Melbourne that the team didn’t deal well with expectation, and his words were proven again by a demoralising 96-point loss to Carlton on Saturday.

After their fifth consecutive defeat, Essendon are all but out of finals calculations, unless they beat Richmond at the MCG on Friday night and then Collingwood and other results fall their way.

Hurley said he agreed with Thompson’s assessment.

“I think so, I think we’ve seen it a few times,” he said.

“The final last year (a 62-point elimination final loss to Carlton) was very similar to the weekend.

“It was a big game with a fair bit on the line and to perform like that is disappointing.”

The 22-year-old said given what was at stake, Saturday’s drubbing was among the most dispiriting losses he had been involved in.

“It was almost like a mini final and to perform like that was very disappointing,” he said before training on Monday.

“Halfway through the year we were in a really good position and then a few things happened that weren’t ideal.

“Now we’re just clinging on.

“I suppose it’s been a bit of a shock and really tough.”

Missing three rounds mid-season with a hamstring injury, Hurley also wasn’t happy with his own showing this year, describing it as a “roller-coaster”.

Hurley said the team wouldn’t deserve to play finals football if they served up another performance like they did against the Blues but they still held hopes they could make the final cut.

Despite their lacklustre second half Hurley was adamant the team had improved this season.

“I think we’ve improved a hell of a lot,” he said.

“You saw the first half of a season we played some fantastic footy.

“The back half hasn’t been as good but I think we’ve improved a lot and the development of younger players has been very good.”