The Bombers received two further blows with new soft tissue injuries to Jason Winderlich and Ben Howlett in the loss to the Crows, but are confident the tide is starting to turn.
"Dustin Fletcher will come back, Angus Monfries will come back, Stewart Crameri will come back, Brent Stanton's a very good chance … Michael Hibberd's a good chance, so we've got four or five very good players to come back,” Hird said after the match.
The four-point defeat was Essendon’s fourth in five weeks, with its only win in that time coming against Port Adelaide.
But Hird says there’s no need to panic.
"We've got four games to go and we need to win one very soon, but I'm very proud of the players and the way they played (against Adelaide), they certainly turned up to play.
"The game was played the way we wanted to play; we just couldn't kick enough goals to win."
Now eighth on the AFL ladder with only percentage keeping them inside the top half of the table, a home fixture against North now looms as a must-win for the Bombers.
With four wins in a row, the Kangaroos will go into the match as warm favourites, though the Bombers may have the mental edge after a two-point victory in Round 1.
