ASSISTANT coach Ben Mathews says he’s eager to see Melbourne’s mix of young and experienced midfielders back up their strong performance this Sunday against Hawthorn at the MCG.

The stoppage coach said he was impressed with the way the likes of young-gun Clayton Oliver and four-time premiership player Jordan Lewis had been building a strong foundation in the middle.

“Clayton’s had a great start to the season. He’s winning the footy, he’s strong in the contests and he’s really taken his game to another level on the back of a bit of professionalism,” Mathews told melbournefc.com.au.

“He wasn’t the most professional bloke running around the park last year, but he’s doing the extra recoveries off a six-day break. He gets his body right and his game in order. He’s playing very, very well.

“Christian Salem’s played strongly in the last two weeks and Jack Viney is starting to rediscover that really hard, contested ball-winning stuff that he’s renowned for, and he’s hunting and tackling.”

“Dom Tyson played well last weekend and to add Jordan Lewis back into the team after three weeks had a settling influence. He, along with Bernie Vince and Nathan Jones, have added that experience in the middle of the ground, which has been invaluable. You put all of that together and hope that it continues this Sunday.”

Mathews said he was also looking for Cam Pedersen to back up his outstanding performance against the Bombers, after he stepped up in the ruck in the absence of injured duo Max Gawn and Jake Spencer. He also praised the work of Jack Watts and Tom McDonald to assist in the ruck.  

“Pedersen had a really good game and he followed up really well around the contest. Wattsy (Jack Watts) has been doing it for three or four weeks now, and Tommy [McDonald], the way he played, whether it was in the ruck or down back, impacted as well,” he said.

“We were happy with our output, but it’s another challenge for us this week and we understand that we’re limited in the ruck area at the moment, but we’ll do the best we can.

“If we’re all buying in, then we’re a chance to execute.”

Reflecting on last Sunday’s win over Essendon at Etihad Stadium, Mathews said there were a lot of errors in the first half, but several improvements were made after half-time. 

“We got a good result on the back of that and it was just pleasing to get back in the winners’ circle, after three tight losses against Geelong, Freo and the Tigers,” he said.

“We felt like we played pretty good football in at least two of those three losses and when you don’t win, a little bit of belief gets taken out of the group each time.

“So overall, it was great for the boys’ belief to get the win, and feel confident in what we’re teaching and what we’re trying to do is on the right path.”

Mathews said this Sunday’s clash against Hawthorn was another challenge for Melbourne, despite the Hawks’ start to the season – one win and five losses – after a hat-trick of flags from 2013-15.

“We’ve definitely planned for their best. It’s back at the MCG and their game against the West Coast Eagles, two weeks ago, was a very good game,” he said.

“Clearly the Hawks aren’t the same team as 12 months ago, but if they play like they did two weeks ago, against West Coast, it’ll be a very, very good game. They were very good around the contest and that’s an area that we pride ourselves on and want to be an elite team at.

“It’s a good opportunity for us to reestablish our brand – two weeks in a row – but also being wary that the Hawks possess a fair bit of firepower.”