Essendon caretaker coach Simon Goodwin wants to be considered to fill the breach next season left by James Hird’s AFL suspension.

The Bombers assistant will guide the club against Richmond at the MCG on Saturday night.

With Hird not allowed to return to the job until late August next year, Essendon are yet to announce who will coach them for the bulk of next season, although senior assistant Mark Thompson is considered the prime candidate.

But Goodwin said he had an ambition to be a senior coach and wouldn’t mind if he got his chance in such unusual circumstances.

“I’ve always set out to be a senior coach,” Goodwin told reporters at Bombers’ training at Windy Hill on Friday.

“If the opportunity arises you certainly have to look at it.

“I’ve been working with these guys for three years and they’ve been outstanding and we’ve continued to improve our footy over those three years.

“These guys deserve to have people around them that have been consistently within the program.

“That’s something I really value this playing group, they are very tight.

“We’ve gone through a lot together, especially in the past six-and-a-half months and I certainly feel a part of that.”

But Goodwin said the immediate priority was to help the players perform at the end of a week in which they learnt they were expelled from the finals and lost Hird as their coach for a year, among other penalties.

“It’s a unique experience, I’ll probably be the first coach to coach for no points,” he said.

“But in saying that it’s a great opportunity.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with these guys, they’ve been outstanding throughout the whole year.

“Certainly my responsibility is to just give these guys the support they need, prepare them as best they can and hopefully we can put on a performance for our supporters.”

More than 200 fans turned out for Friday’s brief training session, chanting and cheering their support.

They gave a particularly loud cheer for club doctor Bruce Reid.

While three other Bombers officials have already accepted penalties, as have the club, Reid is still fighting an AFL charge of bringing the game into disrepute and has threatened Supreme Court action.