Battling key defender Ben McKay doesn't have the confidence or form to play at AFL level at the moment, says Essendon interim coach Dean Solomon.
McKay, 28, was omitted for Sunday's game against Adelaide at Marvel Stadium after a tough outing against Hawthorn, where he collected just five disposals.
On paper, big-bodied 202cm-tall defender McKay would have been the perfect match-up for hulking Adelaide spearhead Riley Thilthorpe.
Instead Zach Reid was monstered by Thilthorpe, who kicked three goals in the first quarter, finished with 5.2 and took 10 marks, including six contested marks.
"The reality is we don't have any talls in form that we could have brought into the team," Solomon said.
"The team that we put on the park today was the team that we have that are in form, especially from the talls.
"We spoke about it halfway through the third (quarter), there's absolutely no one that we could have brought in with any confidence, unfortunately, to match those big talls."
When talking about players low on confidence, key defender McKay, who has battled this year, stands out.
McKay joined Essendon - who he picked ahead of Hawthorn and Sydney - as a free agent at the end of 2023 from North Melbourne on a bumper six-year deal.
"I mean he's one of quite a few players that have lost a bit of confidence," Solomon said.
"It amazes me how much he gets singled out, Ben.
"I said during the week, I'll protect my players and he's one that I will protect and he's getting to work on his game."
Solomon indicated McKay wouldn't return against Geelong next Saturday.
"He's going back, obviously we had a VFL bye this weekend, but he'll get to work during the week. He'll most likely play VFL next weekend," Solomon said.
"But he's got the hunger to work on his game and get back to a level that we know that he can.
"So I'm going to protect him, but his form last week against the Hawks suggested that we couldn't have selected him today.
"So the guys we did select, we backed them in and, as I said, there were patches that we liked, but their big guys got a hold of us at times as well."
Solomon is set to have discussions with Essendon regarding whether he will pitch for the full-time head coach role.
"I'll have discussions with the club in the next couple of days and work through the bigger picture stuff," he said.
"But that's not the priority. It's really the players. We've got three games to go."
The other contenders are former boss James Hird, Adelaide senior assistant Murray Davis, GWS assistant Mark McVeigh and Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham.
