Nick Malceski says pressure and consistency will again be the focus for the Sydney Swans in Friday night’s round nine clash with Essendon at Etihad Stadium.

Following the club’s impressive 19-point win over reigning premiers Hawthorn, the Swans face another tough task against the Bombers, who will be looking to notch up a third consecutive win this week.

Speaking to SwansTV ahead of Friday night’s big match, Malceski said the Swans would need to approach the clash with the Bombers in the same manner they prepared for the Hawks.

“Essendon have been good,” Malceski said.

“They’re a very good team and we’ve got to respect them and just really go out there and play how we did against Hawthorn.

“We need to implement the same things and hopefully we can come away with a win on Friday night.

“We need to bring that pressure every week because when you don’t, teams can chop you up.”

Last Friday night’s win over the Hawks was another step forward for the Swans, who have now won four consecutive games after losing three of their opening four for the season.

Malceski said last round’s win was an indication that the Swans were working better as a unit and were on track to playing their best football.

“The win was very important for our season,” he said.

“Obviously Hawthorn are one of the best teams in the comp so to be able to beat them last Friday night was really good.

“We’re starting to gel together really well.

“We implemented all the things we wanted to do and put a lot of pressure on them and it turned out well.”

Malceski showed some of his brilliant best in the win over the Hawks, with the defender collecting 22 possessions and sneaking down to boot two goals, including a spectacular left-foot snap in the final term.

“I was just pressing up on my man, but defenders whenever they’re inside 50 they have shots I guess because we don’t get many!” he said about his goals.

“I was lucky enough to finish them.”

A win on Friday night would entrench the Swans in the competition’s top eight after nine rounds.

Malceski said moving to 6-3 with a win over the Bombers was a huge opportunity, particularly after the poor start to the season.

“We had a bad start to the year and not one that we wanted but we’ve been able to turn that around in the last few weeks with four straight wins,” he said.

“Hopefully we can implement what we want on Friday night and get the win against Essendon.”

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