WEST Coast swingman Jeremy McGovern says the Eagles cannot afford to underestimate a struggling Fremantle outfit in Saturday's Western Derby, especially after such a poor performance themselves against Hawthorn.

The Eagles copped a 46-point hiding from the Hawks in last Sunday's Grand Final re-match at the MCG.

Eagles coach Adam Simpson said there could be some mental scarring from the Grand Final loss and McGovern said it was possible the Hawks had a mental hold on the Eagles at the MCG.

But he also said the Eagles needed to move on very quickly and they could not afford to lapse again against a Dockers side that had started the season very poorly.

"It's a good short week for us, a six-day turnaround," McGovern said.

"So we move straight on and move onto Freo this week.

"We've got to focus on Freo and bouncing back on the weekend."

The Dockers enter the derby having started the season 0-2 for the first time since 2009. They have also conceded 100 points or more in consecutive games for the first time since 2012.

But McGovern said he expected the Dockers to come out breathing fire on Saturday night and for the Eagles to do the same.

"I think we'd probably come out just as hard after our loss," McGovern said.

"It is a derby so the intensity is always a little bit higher, which is going to be good for the fans I guess. You'd like to think they would come out hard, but we'd be hoping we'd be doing the same thing."

Dockers star Nat Fyfe told AFL.com.au on Saturday that the Dockers would come to play despite being down on confidence.

McGovern said the Eagles' defence was still taking time to settle with the return of Eric Mackenzie.

McGovern has become a more flexible asset for West Coast, but found it hard to have a significant impact at either end of the ground against the Hawks.

However he said the defence would jel in time.

"I wouldn't say it's changed; it's just hard to get that chemistry going again," McGovern said.

"Obviously we had our back six or seven last year that we really played with and jelled with.

"Obviously with 'Ezy' coming back it's probably going to take a couple of games to really get into it.

"I think he's been pretty good. It'll just take a little bit of time to get that perfect continuity but it definitely hasn't been a bad thing. I'm stoked he's back, actually."

The Eagles could be boosted by the return of experienced midfielder Chris Masten for the Dockers clash.

He gathered 28 disposals for East Perth in the WAFL on Friday night in his first game back following an ankle injury.