COACH Paul Roos says he was pleased with first-gamer Christian Salem’s contribution when he came on in the third quarter after starting as substitute against the Sydney Swans at the MCG on Saturday night.

Roos said Salem, who booted Melbourne’s only goal in the final term, showed some promising signs on debut.

“One of the few advantages of having a sub is bringing on a young kid, a bit fresh late in the game and they're able to show their wares,” he said following Melbourne’s 31-point loss.

“He probably looked a bit lost when he first went on – I think he went onto Hanners (Daniel Hannebery).

“There's a long, long way to go, but it's [a] pleasing [debut from Salem].”

Roos said Salem had to wait his turn to play for the Demons, but had earned his call-up through strong performances in the VFL. He highlighted the likes of Geelong duo Jackson Sherringham and George Burbury as players who had to bide their time in the VFL, before earning promotion.

“For us, to have guys who are earning spots is super important,” he said.

“At the moment, we probably can't pick 22 who do everything right every single week, obviously. But it's been really important for Christian that he's worked extremely hard to get into the team.

“We're no longer going to hand games to young players. It showed tonight – he (Salem) looked ready and he made a contribution.”

As for coaching against the Swans for the first time, Roos wasn’t fazed by it.

“I don't really think about it to be honest, other than I know the patterns of the players and I know who's going to be on the end of it,” he said.

“But it really didn't impact at all. Most of the work we're doing at the moment is on ourselves. We put a bit of work into [Jarrad] McVeigh because he's their quarterback.

“We've just got to get some standards in place and we're not doing a lot of work on the opposition. So it is a little bit hard, because teams are getting hold of us at times because we're not able to put some specific strategies in place.”

Overall, Roos said the Demons made some good strides against the Swans, but he added that there was still plenty of work to do.

“I think it was a significant step forward, but by the same token it is frustrating because we drop off in periods of games,” he said.

“But they're (the Swans) a high quality side and they've got some terrific players who've done what they've done for years and years.

“I thought significantly in the second quarter to keep them to three points – is a really good effort for our team and where we're at. It continues to highlight that we've just got to keep working hard.”

But Roos acknowledged he got frustrated with his side’s form and empathised with the Melbourne faithful.

“There were some positive signs, but I'm like a lot of Melbourne fans – I get frustrated as well,” he said.

“I've only been [coaching] for six weeks and they've been putting up with it for a while. Hopefully they can see some light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully they can see we're genuinely competitive against a super team.

“But we've just got to keep doing it over and over and over again and demanding excellence from our players.”

Roos said Melbourne had a long way to go before catching the competition’s benchmark teams.

“You look at the Hawthorn/Geelong game and you look at the Collingwood/Essendon game and they just have the ability to score more – there's no question about that,” he said.

“In terms of our pure ability, we think it's improved a lot over the last couple of years with the trades we've made, but there's a massive gap between [those clubs] and Melbourne.

“We certainly acknowledge that, so our ability to get down in the trenches was really important and it's a theme that we've got to bring – week in and week out.

As hard as it is and as frustrating as it is for me, you accept the turnovers provided you're getting real effort on the defensive side of the football.”