FOLLOWING a disappointing 79-point loss to North Adelaide at Alberton Oval, Port Adelaide Magpies coach Matthew Lokan says the team must respond really quickly next week.

The Magpies lost the contested ball count for the third week in a row, and Lokan says that isn’t acceptable for a midfield that prides itself in that area.

“We are pretty clear on what we need to improve on. Our contested stuff wasn’t great, I think at half time we were down 17 in contested ball, down 13 in ground ball, minus 10 in clearances,” Lokan said.

“In the last two weeks our contested ball has been down, and with the guys in our midfield we pride ourselves on contested footy - we need to improve really quickly.”

Lokan was full of praise for the way the Roosters have been playing in 2018, and said they were clearly the better side on the day.

“North Adelaide has been in really good form this year and obviously came here today and beat us in the contest,” he said.

“North were outstanding in the pressure they put on us right from the start of the game to the end of the game.”

While the Magpies coach said there weren’t many positives to take out of the disappointing day, there were little things that pleased him.

“Cam Hewett moved into the midfield in the second half and we thought he was really good, he got his hands on the ball first and had an impact on the game,” he said.

“Lindsay (Thomas) was solid for us in his comeback, his ability to cover the ground and put pressure on the opposition is one of his strengths, so I thought he was good.

“I thought Todd Marshall was really good for the first three quarters of the game. He was really clean and got into the game really well after a period of time off.

“They are positives in an otherwise ordinary day.”

Port Adelaide finished the game with no one on the interchange bench, but Lokan was reluctant to speculate until the players had been assessed.

The Magpies face South Adelaide at Noarlunga Oval on Sunday, June 3.

Scoreboard
PORT ADELAIDE        
1.2     1.4     2.7    4.8   (32)
NORTH ADELAIDE      
5.1   11.3  13.7  17.9  (111)

Goals

Thomas 2, Hayes, Patmore
Best

Pittard, Trengove, Hewett, Barry, Thomas

Injuries

To be confirmed