MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin concedes his sides defensive pressure was the major downfall in Sunday’s two-point loss to St Kilda at the MCG.

The Saints kicked 18 goals throughout the match, often scoring with ease as they out ran the Demons going forward.

“In the end, I thought our inability to defend wasn’t to the level,” Goodwin said in the post-game press conference.

“So that hurts you.

“We need to work as a club harder when we don’t have the ball.

“It’s pretty simple.”

While the Demons created plenty of opportunities to attack with 12 more inside 50’s for the afternoon, they were unable to deny St Kilda at the other end of the field.

“For me, clearly it’s our ability to work harder when we don’t have the ball which will be the defining thing when you review the tape,” Goodwin said.

“I think you get that breakdown in the back half when you don’t defend to the level in your forward half and through the middle of the ground.

“It takes 22 guys to defend well and certainly to the level we want to defend at.

“So really, that’s where you get the break down and clearly you saw some easy goals.”

But despite the disappointing defensive display, Goodwin will use the loss as an opportunity to teach his side.

“This is part of evolving as a footy team,” he said.

“We’ve engrained the way we want to (play) around the contest.

“We certainly consistently get enough supply … but now it’s about how we evolve ourselves into becoming the defensive team and clearly our game will go to a brand new level once we get that right.”

While the Demons struggled down back against the Saints, Goodwin is confident Melbourne can become a strong defensive unit.

“I’ve seen our ability to do it, it’s just not engrained yet,” he said.

“And that’s really our challenge.

“Coaches, players, we’re all in it together.

“So we’ll continue to look at our system, we’ll continue to tinker with it but really that’s the next level to become the team we want to become.

“You can’t sugar coat that.

“That’s the reality of how you build a team.”

Goodwin realises the fans disappointment after the club’s poor performance on Sunday, but says the loss is a part of the development.

“I understand their feeling,” Goodwin said.

“We are still building ourselves into the team we want to become.

“We always said there will still be little bumps along the way.”

Despite the Demons flat outing against St Kilda, Goodwin is adamant they are still on the right track in 2018.

“We need to start playing better, we need to start getting back into form – it doesn’t matter who we play against,” he said.

“And I’m really confident as a playing group and as a club that we’ll be able to do that.

“I think there’s still a lot to play for, we’ve got a lot of belief still as a club and a team that we can fix a few of these things.

“It’s only small margins between good form and out of form.

“We’re not that far away.”