Melbourne has the opportunity to register its third win of the season against Gold Coast, which has won just one match this year.
But aside from last round’s emphatic loss to Sydney Swans, the Suns have been competitive in July. Gold Coast opened its 2012 account with a win over Richmond in Cairns in round 16, when Karmichael Hunt kicked the match winning goal after the siren.
The Suns also went down to Geelong by 14 points, and the Brisbane Lions by 11 points.
Sylvia said the Suns would be a tough opponent, given they recorded a win in the past month.
“The Gold Coast has played some pretty good football in the past few weeks, so we’re not going to take them lightly,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“They beat Richmond up in Cairns a couple of weeks ago, so it’s going to be a competitive match.
“We just need to put a four quarter effort together, and a good performance.”
Reflecting on last round’s loss to North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, Sylvia said it was a mixed performance, both from the team and individually.
The Demons were comprehensively beaten in the first and third quarters, but won the second term by a point, and lost the final stanza by the narrowest of margins.
“The endeavour and effort was there once again, but we’ve just got to put it all together for four quarters,” Sylvia said.
“We played two quarters only and two quarters we got scored against heavily.
“I was probably not as defensive as I should’ve been in the first half, when I was in the midfield. But I was lucky in the last quarter to bob up and kick a few goals.”
Sylvia has played twelve matches this season, but missed the opening four with a back injury, and one through a club suspension.
He said that, despite suffering two minor spinal fractures in Melbourne’s final NAB Cup clash against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium in March, it had not impacted on his season.
“I don’t think it was as hard as what everyone thought. I felt I worked really hard in my rehab, and I enjoyed a lot of training and I felt like my fitness was really good,” he said.
“But the club showed some faith, and after the break I feel that I’ve given them a little bit and strung a few games together, although I haven’t been quite consistent.
“On the weekend, I probably backed off a little bit.”
Sylvia said the final five rounds were important for the Demons to regain some confidence heading into the pre-season.
“It’s been a pretty tough year in a lot of ways,” he said.
“We understand where we’re at as a team, and we just need to keep improving and get the most from the last five rounds.
“Hopefully we’ll get another few wins on the board and build some confidence, so it can set us up for a really good pre-season in October.”
