Veteran Eagle Elliot Yeo has reaffirmed his strong belief in the Eagles’ direction, addressing recent commentary and clarifying his messaging around the club’s progress.

Yeo said he was keen to provide greater context around his post-match comments from the weekend, acknowledging he didn’t articulate himself as clearly as he would have liked in the moment.

“I probably didn’t best articulate the emotions and how I was feeling post-game,” Yeo said.

“We’re all human, we all make mistakes, and I was exhausted, frustrated and disappointed.

“I still love this club, I love where we’re going, I love the direction and I’m going to back this football club to the hills.”

The experienced midfielder highlighted a strong sense of optimism within the playing group despite a disappointing result.

“Absolutely, we’re disappointed with the weekend’s result and we’re not happy with it,” Yeo said.

“We’re having the conversations internally, individually and collectively, on how we’re going to get better.

“There are some hard roads ahead, and we know that, but there's also a lot of optimism.”

Yeo pointed to the club’s evolving list profile as a key reason for that confidence, with a new generation of players continuing to gain valuable experience at AFL level.

“There are some very, very talented players at this football club that I’m really excited about,” Yeo said.

“The more games we can get into them and the more experience we can build together as a team, the better off we’ll be in the long run.

“They’re going to be the next generation to lead this club forward, and to be part of that early I find really exciting.”

With 13 players in the side last weekend having fewer than 50 games’ experience, Yeo said maintaining a positive and supportive environment was crucial, particularly while the group continues to develop.

“You still need to have the hard conversations behind closed doors, and we’re having them,” Yeo said.

“We are heading in the right direction, and I know it's hard to see, but behind closed doors, a lot of the KPIs as well, that we've gone after, there’s some positive things.  

The Eagles have also been adjusting to key midfield absences, with Yeo acknowledging the impact of Jack Graham (shoulder) and Deven Robertson (knee) sidelined due to injury.

“They’re very important to us,” Yeo said.

“They're two very good, very combative type of players, they're running patterns defensively and offensively, we are missing at the moment.

“But it's a good opportunity for other players to come in and step up.”

Yeo has been encouraged by the continued growth of young gun Harley Reid, who is handling increased opposition attention with maturity.

“He’s playing some really good football and I still think he’s got more to go, which is exciting,” Yeo said.

“He’s starting to understand the game more and mature as a player, and the more experience he gets, the better off we’ll be as a football club and a team.”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s round nine clash with Melbourne, Yeo said the Demons would provide a strong test of the Eagles’ progress.

“They’ve still got plenty of talent across the board and they’re playing really good football,” Yeo said.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge, hopefully it's a high intensity game, and we can bring our best football.”

Despite the challenges, Yeo’s message remained clear - belief in the group and its direction has not wavered.

“I'm going to back this team and I'm going to back the club and everybody inside these four walls.”