LUKE Ball says the most disappointing part of Collingwood's 21-point loss to Adelaide on Thursday night was the opportunity they missed to solidify a top four position.

The Magpies face being a game out of the top four at the end of this round with the Sydney Swans and Gold Coast both chances to surge past them with victories over Essendon and St Kilda.

A win to Fremantle over Geelong on Saturday night could see the Dockers also leap above them, given a superior percentage.

Ball said the loss, which was relatively unexpected given the recent contrasting forms of both teams, hurt more given what was at stake as the middle of the season neared.

"It is [disappointing]. It's one of those years where it's really tight," Ball said, as the Magpies touched down in Melbourne on Friday afternoon.

"The last four weeks have shown that we can play well and our best is good but the competition is so tight you can't have a bad week.

"It's still only relatively early and we've got time to turn that around and get the momentum going again."

Sporting a stitched cut above his bruised left eye – courtesy of a run in with Scott Pendlebury's shoulder – Ball said there were no excuses as to why they played so badly.

He said there was no indication the players were lethargic after last week's bye, with a spirited training session coming on Sunday when they returned to the club.

Ball said the Crows simply beat the Pies "at their own game" with their pressure and tackling, and it was too simplistic to blame Collingwood’s misfiring forward line, despite the fact they managed one goal after half time.

"You're not going to win too many games doing that, are you?" he said.

"In the past month we've been pretty good and we're certainly not blaming the forward line.

"A lot of the time, it tends to be what happens up the field.

"As a midfield group, we got outgunned a bit so we all need to have a good look at our performance and turn it around.

"We've got a long break now but then we've got the Eagles so it doesn't get any easier. But we look forward to getting back to work."

"We've got 10 days to turn that around and try and get the momentum going again."