MIDFIELDER/half-back Matt Jones says the Demons will have to be creative and find several avenues to goal this round, given the injury toll to their big men.

Again without key forwards Mitch Clark (personal leave), Chris Dawes (calf) and Jesse Hogan (back), Melbourne could be without Jack Fitzpatrick (concussion) and Tom McDonald (corked thigh) against the West Coast Eagles at the MCG on Sunday. Defender Colin Garland (ankle), who has played as a pinch-hitting forward, is also another week away.

“They’re dropping like flies … so it’s going to be an interesting game,” Jones told melbournefc.com.au about the club’s big men.

“We’re probably going to have to play with a small forward line. I think Fitzy’s in doubt, so Gawny might be able to come in, but other than that, we haven’t got too many tall options.

“We’re just going to have to play a fast forward line, so we’ll have to get the ball in there fast and try and score that way. [West Coast is] tall down back and up forward, and with Tommy [McDonald in doubt], someone is going to have to stand up.

“[Defender Alex] Georgiou was awesome last week, so he’s going to have to step up again, but we’ll find a way.”

Jones said it was important the ball carriers lowered their eyes and hit targets when going inside 50 this week against West Coast.

“On Saturday night, when we grabbed the ball and looked up, there wasn’t a couple of talls there,” he said.

“But we’ve got to look at the shorter options, which a couple of times we did try last Saturday night, but the kick was turned over.

“We’re just going to have to find another way to score goals against the Eagles.”

Honing in on Melbourne’s loss to St Kilda by 17 points at Etihad Stadium last Saturday night, Jones said the review showed a mixture of positives and areas for improvement.

“We went through the game on Monday and all of the stats were in our favour – uncontested ball, contested footy, scoring, inside 50s – but our skill errors cost us majorly, as did kicking 15 behinds as well,” he said.

“Out on the ground, it felt like we were on top of the game, but when they grabbed the ball, they seemed to just take it forward and kick a goal. That hurt us a fair bit.

“We spoke about how a lot of their goals came from our turnovers. We gave them six or seven goals and if we had have kicked four or five goals from our 15 behinds, we’d win the game.

“It’s a positive in some ways, but we need to fix them up, so hopefully that can happen.”

Jones, who notched up 22 disposals and impressed against the Saints, said he enjoyed his role across half-back.

“I thought in the second half I was good. I ran from the backline, so that was my role,” he said.

“I’m not too sure if I’ll play there [all season], but I reckon I’ll be that wingman who pushes back to help out. I don’t think I’ll be a permanent back. I’ll probably be wing/back or wing/forward.

“I like that role and playing back, because I do like having the game in front of me, so I can take players on a bit more.”

Jones said the influx of midfielders to the club had been good for all of the midfielders, even if it was a greater challenge to win a spot in the starting midfield. 

“It does make it harder, but having more options makes it improve the group,” he said.

“Last year, we only had five or six guys who could play through the midfield, but now we have 10 or 12 guys, so that’s going to help us out and the whole list improve as well.”

But Jones said the influence of coach Paul Roos was already making an impact around the club.

“He’s been great so far. It feels like a whole new footy club, with a range of new coaches and a new midfield too, with [Bernie] Vince, Cross (Daniel Cross) and all of those boys coming in,” he said.

“He’s just given the group heaps of confidence, which is important.

“All of the coaches have been great.”