The game style needs work, but the Michael Voss-led Brisbane Lions will lack nothing for effort in the AFL.

The new coach was pleased his young, undermanned side pushed the Bombers all the way in Friday night's two-point loss at Telstra Dome.

Essendon twice threatened to kill off the NAB Cup quarter-final in the second half when they led by 19 points, only for Brisbane to immediately close the gap.

The Lions probably should have upset Essendon, which had a much stronger side.

But Jack Redden missed a set shot in the last minute after Alwyn Davey gave away a silly 50m penalty and the Lions kicked 2.8 for the last term.

The Lions' sloppy goalkicking was typical of the game, which was no great spectacle in the first half.

"They're moments - not a lot of AFL players get to have a shot like that so close to the end, so he takes that away as further experience," Voss said of Redden.

"That's one of the components we'd like to fix pretty quickly, our goalkicking."

Voss said turnovers hurt his side and he added Essendon were too often able to build attacks from deep in defence.

But he said their decision making improved in the second half and he gave the young Lions a big tick for their effort.

"I can't fault their competitiveness, they were absolutely super at that," he said.

"They were under severe pressure at varying times and just their ability to keep coming at the contest, keep presenting and still believing in that we needed to do - they had trust in that."

Two players who stood out in the loss were defender Josh Drummond and midfielder Albert Proud.

"He (Drummond) has had a great pre-season, he's done a lot of work on his body to get it right, his durability hasn't been fantastic over the last couple of years," Voss said.

"Hopefully 'Drummo' can be one of those guys who can elevate himself in our team, we're looking for those guys to be able to step up.

"He can organise us, he certainly straightens us up out of defence - he has a lethal left foot."

It was Proud's first pre-season game after the Lions lifted a club-imposed suspension, following an incident on the Gold Coast.

Voss said Proud gave the Lions a spark with his hard work at the stoppages.

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