COLLINGWOOD needs to find a way to stop opposition scoring bursts if it wants to become a consistently good team in 2015, Magpies coach Nathan Buckley says.

Buckley told reporters on Tuesday that the Magpies had conceded their opponents the momentum for about 20 minutes in almost every game this season.

Although the Pies were able to weather opposition scoring bursts to win four of their first fives games, they lost to Geelong in round six after the Cats slammed on five straight goals in the opening 10 minutes, and to Richmond last Sunday after conceding five goals in a row in the first nine minutes of the second term. 

Buckley felt it was too early to judge whether Collingwood was a legitimate top-eight team after seven rounds, saying the Pies' main challenge was to play four-quarter football. 

WATCH: Nathan Buckley's full press conference after Saturday's loss

"Across the first seven rounds momentum is a huge part of the game," Buckley said.

"We've shown some consistent footy but in basically every game we've had 20 minutes where the opposition has had momentum and we haven't been able to arrest them taking full toll on the scoreboard.

"We've been able to get out of (some of) those (games) because we've played three and a bit quarters of really strong solid footy.

"But you're not going to win as many games as you'd like, you're not going to perform as consistently as you'd like if you're not playing four quarters of footy and that's the challenge for us."

Buckley identified contested ball, tackling pressure and an inability to control the ball on the rebound as areas that had consistently let the Magpies down when rivals had the momentum.

The Magpies coach said spearhead Travis Cloke had coped well this season despite winning just 11 free kicks and conceding 13.

After Collingwood's five-point loss to Richmond on Sunday, Buckley pleaded for a fairer go for his forward from the umpires, saying: "He gets nothing when it looks like he's being infringed and he only has to sniff to give a free kick away."

AFL umpiring boss Wayne Campbell acknowledged on Monday that Cloke should have received two more free kicks than the one he was awarded on Sunday against the Tigers.

Buckley said the umpires were "doing a pretty good job" of what was "a hard caper", with his post-match comments on Cloke aimed at getting "a little bit more support for him".

Asked if Cloke had become frustrated with his treatment from the umpires this year, Buckley said: "I think his ability to stay on task has been excellent, he's been pretty good."

Buckley said Collingwood would not know until its main training session on Thursday whether Alan Toovey (knee), Steele Sidebottom (thumb) and Jackson Ramsey (shin) would be available for Saturday's clash against Gold Coast.

Collingwood announced on Tuesday morning that Brent Macaffer would have arthroscopic surgery on the right knee he had reconstructed at the end of last season.

The Magpies expect the operation will set Macaffer's recovery back three to four weeks, but Buckley said the club hadn't put a timeframe on the run-with midfielder's return to the field.

"These are the times you really lean on your teammates and the internal environment at the footy club, and I think we're doing that as well as we ever have," Buckley said.

"'Caff' is going to have his ups and downs, but he's been pretty well supported in here."