JAMES McDonald knows that after the first 20 minutes at Subiaco on Sunday, his side never really had a chance. But he also knows Melbourne is desperate to rebound this Sunday against the Kangaroos.

The Demons were never in the game at Subiaco Oval, only having one scoring shot in the opening quarter while the Eagles ran rampant. They did better in the early stages of the third and fourth quarters, but again struggled to sustain their good football.

McDonald said some of that could be attributed to the Eagles’ own performance.

“They’re a great side and were stung into action after last week and got some momentum up early,” he said. “We weren’t ready to play in the first 15 minutes and [they had] home ground advantage.”

“We came out after half time with more energy and matched them there, but being able to sustain it has been our problem all year. You need to maintain that intensity against top sides, and we aren’t able to do it at the moment.”

Despite being Melbourne’s best on Sunday with 25 hard-earned possessions, McDonald isn’t overly impressed with his own form. Last year’s All-Australian and best and fairest winner still finds himself learning from the likes of Chris Judd and Daniel Kerr, even at 30 years of age.

“I’ve been a little up and down this year, so I’m not that happy with how I’m going personally, either,” McDonald said. “I’d be happy to be playing poorly for us to have a win.”

“[The Eagles] have terrific structures and all know what they’re doing and where to go. You can learn from that, though, and pick up a few things to use yourself.”

The previous two close losses to Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs did hurt the Demons’ confidence, McDonald said, but it was no excuse not to be on their game fully against the reigning premiers.

“If your tempo is off by five per cent against a side like West Coast you are going to get smashed, and that’s what happened.”

Forward Russell Robertson and tough-as-nails midfielder Brock McLean will return this Sunday for the match against the Kangaroos. Ryan Ferguson will be out with a broken thumb, with Clint Bizzell and Paul Wheatley putting their hands up to replace the unlucky defender.

“It will be good to get them back,” McDonald said.

“Brock is our No. 1 ball winner, and Robbo will be a great help to Neita up-forward. We need to make sure we throw blokes in there that will have an impact and keep improving, that’s our theme now.”

The Kangaroos are one of the in-form teams of the competition, but at this point, Melbourne just needs to win. McDonald believes any pressure on coach Neale Daniher is undeserved and the players do not want to hear it.

“We have nothing to lose, so we can go out there, enjoy our footy and take them on,” he said.

“The playing group loves playing for Neale, and sometimes circumstances are out of our control. We can’t worry about that, we just need to worry about getting our job done on the field.”

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.