COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley says the Magpies face personnel challenges after power forward Travis Cloke suffered a suspected torn calf in a 31-point loss to West Coast at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

Cloke left the field midway through the first term, and his absence proved a significant factor in the Pies losing their fourth successive game for the first time in nine years.

"Just talking to Trav a moment ago, he felt a bit of a pop, so it's likely to be a calf tear," Buckley said in his post-match media conference.

"But we'll scan it tomorrow (Sunday) or Monday and see where we go from there."

Five talking points: Colingwood v West Coast

After defeats to Fremantle, Hawthorn and Port Adelaide, and having their chances to win all three games, the Pies were soundly beaten in general play and were eventually put away by the inaccurate Eagles.

"We're just not good enough, are we. We're just a little bit off at the moment," Buckley said.

"We've had periods through that month where our footy's looked more than likely, and we've earned the right to win games when they've come to the end. Not tonight …

"We're a little bit off the best sides at the moment. Are we surprised by that? Are you surprised by that? I don't think so.

"We've got a lot of growth in us but there's no guarantee we're going to find it. We've got to make it happen."

Buckley knows the critics will be coming, and that some will suggest the Pies have slumped into a downward spiral.

WATCH: Nathan Buckley's full press conference

"It'll be speculated on and it'll be written, but that doesn't make it so," he said.

"We haven't had a win for five or six weeks, given the bye was in the middle of it. GWS, round 11, sitting at 8-3, looking all right, (but) we're 8-7 now.

"As far as our football goes, some of it in the last month has been better than anything that we displayed in the first half of the year. So we're not going to get carried away with a run of losses …"

The Pies face the Western Bulldogs next week, followed by Melbourne and Carlton in a run that will give them a chance to get back into winning form, although the loss of Cloke will make it a challenge. After the Blues it's another tough month leading into the finals with Sydney (away), Richmond and the Cats before a round 23 clash with Essendon.

 

"There's going to be personnel challenges in some shape or form," Buckley predicted ahead of the Dogs.

"We've had a pretty good run with injury until this week. We had quite a few outs after the Port Adelaide game.

"We've got a squad mentality. We were actually really happy with our ins tonight. Levi (Greenwood) will be better for the run, 'Kenno' (Ben Kennedy) showed a little bit, Marley (Williams) has been one of our better players all year, and 'Seeds' (Paul Seeedsman) is still finding his way and working out whether he's going to make it at the level.

"We've also got a couple of boys that are playing some really good footy at VFL level that are continuing to put their hand up."

Asked about the performance of Cloke's forward partner Jesse White, who had 10 possessions (two contested), four uncontested marks and failed to register a score, Buckley said: "Jesse competed all right. Too much focus on one bloke."