MIDFIELD coach Ben Mathews says Melbourne is desperate to finish the season on a strong note, after a disappointing and winless August.

Mathews said the team was frustrated by its recent performances and was determined to take it right up to North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

“We’re looking for a win – no doubt about it. The boys have been disappointing over the last month. They put their hand up and really acknowledged that this week, as have they done in the previous few weeks,” he told Dee TV.

“We’re looking to finish this season off really strongly with a win and a really competitive performance – and playing the brand of footy we want to play – hard and disciplined.

“North isn’t going to make it easy – they want to go into the finals full of steam and [coach] Brad Scott won’t want them to have a letdown going into their finals campaign.”

Mathews said North Melbourne’s midfield was an area that Melbourne needed to keep under close watch.

“When North gets out of stoppage areas and into the open play, they’re very damaging,” he said.

“They move the ball quickly and cleanly and it’s quite hard to get it off them.

“We really want to make it a strong contest inside and win the contested footy. They beat Adelaide in that area last week and Adelaide has been strong, so it’s a great challenge for our midfield group.”

Overall, Mathews said Melbourne’s midfield had made “definite growth” but still had plenty to work on in the upcoming pre-season.

“Dom Tyson’s come in and played a really strong role for us. He focused hard on his transition earlier in the year and his game on the back of that has really grown, and his fitness has grown throughout the year,” he said.

“He came off a really limited pre-season and he’s done super well to get through the season the way he has.

“Nathan [Jones] has been solid – he’s tried to lead the way in the manner that he does each week. He’s a strong contested football player and he’s trying to bring other players into the game as well.

“Bernie [Vince] has crossed over and had a really consistent year and been valuable for us in his leadership out on the ground. Crossy (Daniel Cross) is another one who has provided great leadership and then you’ve got the young brigade in [Jack] Viney, who is always hard at it and learning some defensive stuff.

“Others like Matty Jones and Ro Bail have gone through there [as well], so we’ve got a long, long way to go with our group, but we’ve seen some positive signs and they’re really committed to finishing off well.

“It’s all well and good to have a reasonable 22 rounds, but we’re up to round 23 and we don’t want to go into the pre-season on a real downer – that’s been the focus this week.”