AS THE Magpies look towards next Saturday'sclash with the Saints, midfielder Tarkyn Lockyer believes they'll be searchingfor some much needed consistency.

After the Pies' 18-point loss to Hawthornon Sunday, Lockyer said the endeavour of the side – which was hugelyundermanned and included four first-year and two second-year players – couldnot be questioned.

However, he did say the side could notcontinue to be eluded by consistency across four quarters if it wants to returnto the winners’ list.

“There was probably a few times today [Sunday]where we just dropped our guard, maybe five minutes at a time, so they're theareas we need to pick up,” the 27-year-old told collingwoodfc.com.au.

“Our ball use at times probably wasn't thegreatest, so there are a few things we can take out of that game to go and workon.

“By and large, it was a good effort.

“For Marty [Clarke], it was a great effortto play well last week and to step up again today and kick three goals… and for[Ben] Reid to make his debut and have a couple of efforts.

“His attack on the footy was sensational.

“They've got opportunities now, so hopefullythey can hold their spots.”

The emergence of Clarke and Reid, coupledwith the hardness with which the Pies attacked the ball for the second weekrunning, gave Lockyer plenty of positives to focus on when dissecting theperformance post-match.

“The pressure was fantastic from bothsides.

“I suppose in the last couple of weeks withthe Sydney gameit was exceptional, and the challenge was well and truly tonight to try andreplicate that again,” he said.

“To the boys' credit, they had a crack atit and unfortunately came up short.”

Mick Malthouse again put forward his beliefthat players in the grandstand don't win matches, but the fact the Hawks hadjust too many talented forwards for the Pies' depleted back half to handle wasn'tglossed over by Lockyer.

“The Hawks probably had four targets upforward and a lot of space up there too, as their half-forwards played up theground a fair way,” he said.

“When you do that, you find it a lot easierto find those targets, so the way they used the ball in the forward line was alot better than us.”