SUCCESSIVE poor losses may have intensified the scrutiny of Melbourne's progress, but Dean Bailey is adamant his team has taken great strides forward this season and will continue to improve.
In the tests provided by the big occasions of the Queens Birthday clash and Friday night football the Demons didn't do as well as hoped, but Bailey maintains those losses have not undermined the progress made.
"The last two weeks in pressure games we haven't really delivered the competitive edge that we had shown for probably the previous nine weeks," Bailey said from Junction Oval on Thursday.
"The two big games that we've played you could argue that we didn't perform well enough under those circumstances, but I think up until then we were fighting games out and we were very competitive for large parcels of the game.
"If you compare it to last year we are moving in the right direction. However slowly that is, we're still moving in the right direction, I think.
"The last couple of weeks have probably been the most disappointing because they've been under the spotlight … but we are moving forward - certainly not as quick as we'd like – but we are taking those small steps.
"We've been very clear with the direction we're going to take with the players and how we're going to coach them. That hasn't changed."
Despite the apparent drop off in intensity from his players, Bailey said there had been no recriminations behind close doors.
"If you get caught up with the things that you're not doing well and you dwell on them then it becomes frustrating," he said.
"It [can] become a concern for the players, but we've always been about trying to move the ball as quick as we can … I think we're better organised and we've certainly improved in that area.
"We're coming off a really low base though. At the end of the day we're still trying to get out of where we are. We've got a long way to go, but the players' workrate has still been very good and we're still trying to improve their decision making under pressure."
The Demons take on the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Saturday night and Bailey described skipper James McDonald as only a 50-50 chance to play, while Nathan Jones and Matthew Warnock are in the mix for selection.
Bailey agreed a road trip might not be the worst thing in the world for his besieged group right now despite having to come up against the in-form Lions on their home patch.
"People are going to give us very little chance to even perform. People have given us very little chance to get close, I would have thought," he said.
"It's going to be a challenge. Going to Brisbane to play is always going to be difficult, but we think we've got some opportunities to improve. Competitiveness is a word we've said a lot and we'd like to think that would become a real focus for us, not just this week, but for the rest of the year as well.
"It's a 50-50 game at the moment. If your attitude is good enough and you're competitive long enough … attitude plays a very strong part in how you play the game and how you finish, so I'd expect us to be on the front foot on Saturday night."
