WEST COAST coach John Worsfold believes his side has regained respect in the eyes of the football fraternity following the Eagles' 48-point win over Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.

The victory marks the club's fifth win on the road in 2011 - last year, the Eagles only won four games in total and they are now gunning for a top four spot with 14 wins for the season.

The Eagles only managed three wins away from the comfort of Patersons Stadium in the past three years and Worsfold said after the match that he was pleased to have notched another win in Melbourne.

"I would expect [that we have regained some respect as a side that travels well]," Worsfold said post-match.

"I suppose it depends if you're talking about respect from opposition teams or from supporters and fans of the game. I'm sure that has happened, but it's not something that we measure."

The Eagles have played six games in Melbourne this season, with only the game at the MCG the contest against Collingwood.

But Worsfold said the lack of games at the home of the AFL finals series wasn't a concern.

"The teams I've been involved in before have gone into finals at the MCG having not played many games there throughout the year and have always handled it pretty well," he said.

"We do put in [fixture] requests to the AFL … it's not critical for us, if you're form is good enough, you'll play well [anywhere]."

One area of concern for Worsfold coming into finals is the Eagles' poor record in third quarters this year.

West Coast was outscored by Melbourne in the third term on Sunday, five goals to three, and Worsfold was unable to explain why his side had lost 13 third quarters in 2011.

"It's a bit of a Bermuda triangle but one of the key things that we want to focus on is improving as a team across the board, not specifically in one quarter," Worsfold said.

"Rarely, depending on how good your team is, do you dominate for four quarters. We've generally controlled first halves pretty well and when teams have had their run on it has usually been in that third quarter and I'm not really sure why."