MELBOURNE coach Dean Bailey says his side is looking forward to the challenge that Saturday’s clash with Geelong presents.

However the Demons are not under any false illusions concerning the recent form of the two teams.

While Melbourne has won its past two clashes, the Cats have lost their past two outings.

But Bailey knows better than to read too much into that, with the coach saying Geelong’s team was littered with stars.

“You run through their list, you run through their players [and] they’ve got some star players to come in and I’ve got no doubt that [after] what they’ve experienced last week they’ll be very keen,” Bailey said after watching his team train at the Junction Oval on Friday morning.

“They’ll certainly come out with great intent. You can get carried away with two losses but they’ve got some superstar players playing in their team.”

Bailey admitted his young side was “buzzing” at the prospect of tackling the Cats at Skilled Stadium but the Demons expect the second-placed side to hit back after successive defeats.

“They’re a very well-managed club, they’re well coached,” he said.

“To some degree they’ve certainly led the game as we see it in the last few years; how they’ve approached it [and] how they’ve played it.

“I wouldn’t have thought [they’d be] coming off two losses … I think the odds would be pretty good for them to be playing pretty well and not [having lost] two in a row.

Melbourne, with renewed confidence following wins over West Coast and Port Adelaide, is unlikely to roll over against the Cats at Skilled Stadium.

“I’d expect us to attack the game with a real fierce and physical desire,” Bailey said.

“We know what they’re going to bring, but we’ve also got to bring what we’ve been good at the last couple of weeks.”

Bailey said the appearance of Jim Stynes before training on Friday had lifted spirits, while he hoped this week’s NAB Rising Star winner Liam Jurrah could continue his form against the Cats.

“He’s exciting. LJ brings that x-factor,” Bailey said of Jurrah.

“He’s come off pretty much a zero pre-season. He’s certainly brought a new lease of life which I think is really important for where we’re at.”

The Demons have now won three matches and moved off the bottom of the ladder and, with teams now so close at the foot of the table, the debate over “tanking” in the run to the end of the season has again reared its head.

But Bailey isn’t concerned by that.

“It doesn’t bother me and as far as I’m concerned the discussion … is external, so lots of other people talk about it but I certainly won’t be.”