DESPITE a disappointing loss to Collingwood on Saturday night, Swans key defender Craig Bolton said the players would look forward to the challenge of playing a fellow top four team in Hawthorn next week.

“Hawthorn is in great form and, along with Geelong and the Western Bulldogs, is one of the form sides of the competition,” Bolton said.

“It is going to be tough, but I couldn’t think of a better way to comeback after the loss against Collingwood.”

Bolton was unsure of which Hawthorn forward he would be assigned to but said there were many players that they needed to watch.

“It will be very challenging playing Hawthorn because they probably have the best forward line in the competition along with Brisbane and Geelong,” Bolton said.

“I have played on Franklin in the past and he is obviously a dominant player but they also have other really good forwards kicking goals.

“We will put this game [against Collingwood] behind us because it is these sorts of game against teams like Hawthorn that you need to win.”

The Swans too will have to defend better to stop Hawthorn forwards taking strong marks as Collingwood were allowed to do on Saturday night.

“In defence last night we gave away a lot more marks than what we would have liked in their forward 50 metres.

“We are going to have to be better than that to beat the good teams.”

Bolton admitted that the Swans needed to play better in finals like atmosphere for the remainder of the season.

“Last night was an example of finals type of footy and you want to be playing well in those games and we didn’t.

“We have had a good run of it of late and it was a wake up call for us.

“We really need to lift our intensity if we are to be competitive again.

“To only kick one goal in the first half for an apparently top four side is not good enough.”

The Swans will certainly need to reach the double digits in goals next week to have any chance of beating Hawthorn.