TOM McDonald says Sunday’s 32-point loss to the Western Bulldogs at the MCG was “a disappointing performance”.

The key defender said Melbourne entered the much-anticipated contest with plenty of confidence, but was unable to shake the now fifth-placed Bulldogs.

“We came in really excited with a belief that we can beat a really strong side,” he told Melbourne TV.

“We weren’t able to do it and we know the reasons why, but not being able to execute it in a game was frustrating, but it doesn’t really change anything going forward.

“We’ll still have the same week going into next game and keep playing the same way.”

McDonald said when Melbourne kicked three in a row during the final quarter and brought the margin back to 27 points, he still believed they were a chance for victory.

“I still thought we were a chance right up until late in the last quarter, but we were just struggling to get goals ourselves and then they’d get one straight back, which was deflating,” he said.

“That’s an issue we need to resolve and we need to slow them down, while being able to score ourselves.

“There are plenty of things to work on and we’ll look at it during the week and keep training and get back next week.”