Fremantle coach Ross Lyon won’t be fooled into complacency by Essendon’s mid-season form wobble, claiming the Bombers should be considered clear favourites for Saturday night’s AFL clash at Patersons Stadium.

The Bombers (8-3) have lost their past two matches to slip from equal first to sixth on the table, with their six-point loss to lowly Melbourne in round 10 coming as a particular shock.

But Lyon said Essendon’s recent showing against Sydney, when they came from 47 points down at the final change to almost snatch victory, proved the Bombers were still in good nick and capable of knocking off the competition’s best sides.

“Their form is rock solid,” Lyon said on Thursday.

“I think they’ve lost three games by a collective total of two goals or something like that.

“They had 73 (forward-50m) entries (against Sydney) and I think if you have 73 entries you’re not really out of form, are you?

“They come over expectant, their win-loss is really strong, and we clearly are the underdogs in all this.

“But we come out of our victory (against Richmond) with some belief in what we’re doing and we’re really expectant to come out and perform at a high level.”

Fremantle are set to make at least four changes for the match after midfielder Stephen Hill’s bid to recover from an ankle injury fell short.

Hill’s absence comes at a particularly bad time for the 11th-placed Dockers, who also need to find replacements for ruckman Aaron Sandilands (turf toe), defender Zac Dawson (knee) and goalsneak Hayden Ballantyne (suspended).

Lyon said wingman Anthony Morabito, whose last AFL match was the semi-final defeat to Geelong in 2010, would spend at least one more week in the WAFL to help him build greater momentum in his comeback from a knee reconstruction.

“We all know he had three hiccups off his reco, and as a second-year player it’s significant,” Lyon said.

“But he could be selected next week.”