WESTERN Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney has rejected suggestions his side's clash with Melbourne this weekend is a must-win game.
The Bulldogs and Demons remain winless after three rounds, and the loser of Sunday's contest will undoubtedly come under increasing scrutiny.
Watch Brendan McCartney's Press Conference on the media player above.
McCartney insists the meeting with the Demons is more about process than result.
"I don’t know if you’d call it (a must-win game)," he said at Whitten Oval on Friday.
"Every game's important. There's not too many AFL games you go into where you don’t really want to win the game.
"But there's a balance (and) I've spoken at length to the players about it. Sometimes you can want to win too much and (you) forget about the basics of the game, and we've experienced that a little bit at times this year.
"It's (about) getting that balance where you’re optimistic and you're really buoyant about what you want to do but you’re also realistic enough to take care of the basics of the game, (which) are still the most important thing."
The Bulldogs would be considered favourites to win their next three games - against Melbourne, GWS and Gold Coast - but McCartney was adamant he hadn’t looked that far ahead.
"We're three games into a terrifically long season and we haven’t had a great start, but we want to make a good start to the game on Sunday, and that's all we're focused on," he said.
"If I spent all my time worrying about if we win, if we lose, and what the next week holds, it can get you. But we've planned this week the same as we've done all summer and all through the first three games."
McCartney has been more "agitated" than "stressed" by his side's start to the season.
He said he had drawn on his experiences as an assistant coach working through tough times under the likes of Mark Thompson at Geelong and James Hird at Essendon.
He had also received "terrific support" from his coaching panel, along with the likes of chief executive officer Simon Garlick, football manager James Fantasia, president David Smorgon and club great and current board member Chris Grant - a group he described as "solid, strong people".
"We're all in this together," McCartney reinforced.
He said the Bulldogs failed to grab their chances in their opening matches against West Coast and Adelaide before simply having a "bad night" against St Kilda, managing just five goals in a 63-point loss last Saturday night.
The lack of impact on the scoreboard wasn't simply the fault of the forward line, McCartney said.
"When you don't kick goals, everyone's eyes shift straight to the people playing in that part of the ground. It's not often as simple as that," he said.
"You've got to link that back to how the whole team is functioning."
McCartney confirmed top draftee Clay Smith has been rested.
"He's sore. He's a young body, a young player; you'll see him back quite soon, I'm sure," he said.
"He's in a good head-space. He's a very down-to-earth kid, he's a very rational kid and he understands he's got a lot to learn. We're really confident he'll get there."
