Essendon coach Matthew Knights has seen how good his side can be and now all he wants now is a little bit of consistency.

The Bombers topsy-turvy season took another turn for the better on Friday night when they defeated Hawthorn by 44 points in front of a sold-out crowd at Etihad Stadium.

It was Essendon's third upset victory of the year, with against the odds wins against Collingwood and Carlton and a regulation demolition of Fremantle giving them a 4-3 win-loss record and a spot in the top eight.

But it's the three losses this season that worries Knights and the second year coach said his team needs to learn how to back up one good performance with another.

"We have great performances, and then we have games that we aren't so crash hot," Knight said after the victory over Hawthorn.

"Great teams are really consistent over the whole year and at the moment we are a young team that is improving. So we have got to get better."

"Hopefully playing St Kilda next week, with the form they are in and the respect they have got across the industry at the moment, will be a bit of an inspiration for our guys to try and rise again. It will be another big challenge for us."

While Knights will be looking for some consistency from his young charges in the coming weeks, it was hard to wipe the smile from his face after he saw his team upset the reigning premiers.

Tayte Pears shut down the dangerous Jarryd Roughead, Cale Hooker performed admirably against Lance Franklin, while skipper Matthew Lloyd presented well all night to finish the match with a career high of 15 marks.

But it was young gun Angus Monfries that won the most praise from Knights for his 22 disposal, 12 mark, two-goal performance that set the tone early for the Bombers when he was matched up by Luke Hodge.

"His selflessness is unbelievable," Knights said of Monfries.

"He actually asked me earlier in the week if he could have a crack at that role on Hodge."

"I was quite comfortable to go with that as Angus has got the discipline to try and work for the team and can also find the ball."