MICK Malthouse was looking for no sympathy despite the Magpies facing the Demons one man short and with a depleted defence.

He said his players' slow start was to blame for their 13-point loss on Monday.

The Magpies lost Rhyce Shaw before the bounce with a groin complaint and had Harry O'Brien go down with shoulder and ankle injuries in the opening term of the round 11 match against Melbourne at the MCG.

"Let's get it straight – we came out here to win the game," Malthouse said.

"We're not after pity because you lose a player. We made too many fundamental errors.

“We can't give sides a six-goal start and then miss goals that should be kicked or stop strategies of the opposition where they clearly were able to generate the football from, and we knew that's where they did it from.

"Let's not let the boys off the hook. We have a very young side, we understand that, and that gives you enthusiasm. If there is a bonus to it, they never gave in. That's about it."

Malthouse admitted the loss of Shaw and O'Brien was compounded because of the absence of injured defenders Simon Prestigiacomo and James Clement.

However, he did take aim at the Pies' sloppy start where they allowed the Demons to amass a 34-point lead in the second term.

"We weren't clean, I didn't think our contesting was as sharp as it needed to be and should have been," he said.

"We then put pressure on ourselves by losing a backline player, which under the circumstances, makes it very difficult to replace when you've already got players replacing backline players.

"Prestigiacomo, Clement, Shaw and then to lose Harry … we had to re-jig the side, which meant you were then robbing other areas of the game.

"That's why you have four interchange players. Let's not use it as an excuse. It was a big test for Danny Stanley playing his first game, big test for Tyson Goldsack playing his fourth game, and they needed to stand up.

"I didn't think that Nick Maxwell, being a 50-plus game player, was as good as what he should have been either. I thought we gave away too many easy goals in the first quarter, and then we had to start from five goals back to see if we could get back in the game."

The Pies have recorded one more loss than they had at the same time last season, but Malthouse still believes the team is a stronger outfit owing to its depth. He also forecast the debut of more players, after blooding his sixth for the year on Monday.

"I still believe we're better, because of what I saw yesterday (at Williamstown),” Malthouse said.

"I reckon some of those players will step up next week. The Willy boys do play next week, and those that need another game will be looked at in preparation for the Sydney match.

"I can tell you right now the side that went down the race today will change. It will probably change because of injury, but it will also change because I believe that some of the kids we play at Williamstown are ready to play senior footy.

"If it means exposing them to the furnace we're going to get up in Sydney, so be it. That's great preparation for the rest of the year."

Malthouse said he doesn't expect any of the club's injured players to be available for the Pies' round 12 clash against the Swans, and said O'Brien will have scans on his ankle and shoulder injuries on Tuesday.