Essendon coach James Hird has rejected suggestions the Bombers lacked fitness or were burned out during the winless run they spectacularly ended by beating Geelong last weekend.

The Bombers broke a five-match AFL losing streak to stun the previously unbeaten Cats by four points.

There had been suggestions Hird's rebuilding side had been lacking fitness or may have peaked too early - with the nadir of their recent defeats an uncompetitive effort against Hawthorn the previous week.

But with the Bombers flying again and back in the top eight after beating the Cats, Hird said there were valid reasons why his side had struck a mid-season slump.

"We've got a young team that's come off a reasonably large half of the season, we've had a few six-day breaks, travel, and I think young players when things don't go right early in games can lose their way a little bit," Hird told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

"You put all those things together and we didn't play as well as we would have liked.

"I've heard we're not fit enough, we're too fit, we've trained too hard - I don't agree with any of those things."

Hird believes his young group is now better placed to grow and develop further this season having dealt with mid-season adversity, and perhaps take up one of the lower finals spots up for grabs.

"I believe our players have come out of that period having learnt a lot from the losses and also the win on the weekend," Hird said.

The Bombers had their worst fears confirmed with utility Andrew Welsh's hamstring injury to sideline him for at least three weeks.

The luckless 28-year-old had performed brilliantly in the first half against the Cats as a defensive forward stopping dangerous backman Matthew Scarlett.

Welsh also booted two goals himself before his hamstring gave way just prior to halftime.

Welsh underwent scans on Monday to confirm the hamstring strain and Essendon football manager Paul Hamilton said it was disappointing for the Bomber utility.

"It's been a tough year for Andrew and he was doing such a great job," Hamilton said.

"We've had an MRI which will just confirm what we already know and that's a hamstring strain and the doctors are confident it will be a three-week injury."

It was the latest in a long line of injuries for Welsh, who has played just three matches this season.

He had groin surgery at the end of last season, then injured a calf during the warm-up in what was supposed to be his AFL comeback match against Gold Coast in May.

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