PAUL Roos says Melbourne is preparing for Fremantle’s best and is wary the Dockers are capable of playing their finals-like form from last year at any moment.

Speaking on Roos’ Views, the coach said Saturday night’s clash against Fremantle at TIO Stadium was yet another test for his emerging team.

“We still look at them as one of the better teams, because their performance over the four or five years is really, really good,” he said.

“You’re preparing for [David] Mundy, Lachie Neale, [Hayden] Ballantyne, [Michael] Walters and [Stephen] Hill – so they’ve still got some high quality names there.

“Equally, the message for our guys is that we’ve got to keep playing our best football for longer and that’s going to be the focus going in for us.”

Roos acknowledged the next three weeks were a challenge for the club, given it is playing in Darwin, followed by Etihad Stadium and then Perth.

But he said the team had been prepared for this period.

“It’s a balance – when to get your training in, and when to have a bit of a breather and when to freshen up,” he said.

“It’s just all part of being an AFL footballer now.

“It’s all part of our management with our physios, Misso (Dave Misson), the coaches and leaders and discussing it all together.

“We’ve had a bye and come off last week, so the team is up and about and it’s just more of an awareness, more than anything else.”