Essendon captain Jobe Watson came through his return from a medium-term hip injury last week unscathed and will line up against Gold Coast on Saturday, although he already has goals further down the track on his mind.

The Bombers currently sit one game ahead of the GC SUNS on the AFL ladder. A loss this weekend at Etihad Stadium would pitch them in to a round 23 battle with a much-improved Carlton side, which could be a must-win contest depending on other results over the next fortnight.

Despite this, Watson is already eyeing off September action, and said the 2014 campaign won’t be a successful one without a win in the finals.

“It has been 10 years since the club has won a game in the finals, so that’s not a successful history,” Watson said.

“I have been here for 12 years. I certainly know what it is like to finish in round 22 and have the season finished.

“I think it is certainly important for any club that wants to be successful to play finals football, and to be successful you have to win finals.”

After they lost four of their first six, the Bombers have gone 9-5. In that period they have conceded an average of just 75 points per game.

They played true to that statistic last week in a 77-74 win over West Coast, a victory which snapped a two-game losing streak.

Watson believed a renewed focus on the defensive side of the game has served his side well this year.

“If you have a look at the style of football that we are playing, it is different to the style of the last few years.

“We started to really leak goals in the last six to eight rounds of the previous three seasons.

“(This year) we have held up defensively....I think we are third in terms of points conceded. Our ability to defend the ground has kept us in games when we haven’t been playing well, and (last week’s game against the Eagles) was an example of that.”