"We've played a pretty terrible month of football," Thompson said of the Bombers' run prior to the match against Adelaide on Sunday evening.
"Our grand final is this week against the Kangaroos so we need to win this week to stay alive."
Speaking on Fox Footy's AFL 360 program, Thompson said the mood at recovery on Monday was positive and the side is looking forward to the the upcoming twilight clash with several big names including Dustin Fletcher set to return.
"We haven't been able to apply any pressure at all, we've forgotten how to kick, handball, where to set up....everything's been just terrible for us to do, so what we did on the weekend was encouraging."
Essendon has lost its last three matches with North Melbourne on a four game winning streak.
