INCREASED pressure for spots in West Coast's engine room "can only be a good thing" after last year's elimination final exit, experienced midfielder Chris Masten says.
The addition of former Hawthorn champion Sam Mitchell, the return of Dom Sheed from injury and expected improvement from Jack Redden, Lewis Jetta and Liam Duggan should turn up the heat in the Eagles' midfield this season.
After being swamped by the Western Bulldogs' onball division in a shock home final defeat last season, Masten said pressure to perform was exactly what West Coast's midfielders needed.
"There's a lot of spaces in the team up for grabs," Masten said.
"With the amount of numbers we've had (on the training track), the youth coming through and then a player like Mitch as well … there's only so many midfielders you can have.
"You've got to be on top of your game every week otherwise there's going to be pressure. It can only be a good thing having that pressure from underneath.
"You have to perform otherwise your spot is up for grabs. I quite like it, it's a good problem to have for our team."
Although Masten has been a consistent performer for the Eagles over the past five seasons, the 27-year-old wants to become more versatile and damaging.
Masten booted 20 goals in 2012 but has only kicked the same amount in four seasons since.
"I wouldn't mind getting forward and kicking a couple more goals, I've been pretty bare on that end for a while," he said.
"I need to keep being consistent, playing my role, evolving and maybe moving around the ground a little bit more than just being stuck out on a wing or wherever it is."
Masten will be one of the few experienced Eagles to make the long journey to Narrandera to face Greater Western Sydney this Saturday in the club's JLT Community Series opener.
The 161-game veteran wants to play the entire pre-season series in a bid to hit the ground running for round one against North Melbourne.
After an intraclub hit-out last Friday, the Eagles had an intensive skills session on Monday at Domain Stadium, with Duggan rejoining the main group following his hamstring issue.
Despite sustaining a "significant" hamstring injury last week, electric small forward Willie Rioli was able to walk and jog laps with Simon Tunbridge (knee reco) and youngster Matthew Allen for company.
Ruckman Jonathan Giles again trained with protection on his sore left thumb, while Nic Naitanui completed some straight-line running exercises away from the main group.
Masten denied it was deflating to hear the star big man's concession he could miss all of 2017 due to his reconstructed knee.
"I think he's just being cautious. There's no reason he needs to push himself (where) he might re-injure it," Masten said.
"It's a big injury and he's quite a big person with a lot of weight going through it, so you've just got to be careful."
