NATHAN Jones says it’s not difficult to remain ‘up’ for the rest of the season, despite the fact the Demons have won just two matches in 2013.

The vice-captain told SEN on Wednesday that the Dees had plenty of areas to work on and needed as many opportunities to capitalise on them before the season’s end.

“It’s not too hard, because the way we’re looking at it there is still plenty to play for. Craigy (Neil Craig) has come out during the week and said that we really want to run to the line and there is no cue in the rack,” Jones said.

“The players want to try and draw as much as they can out of it. It has been so disappointing, but if you throw in the towel at this stage of the year, you waste four, six, eight or 10 weeks – depending on when that happens.

“We’ve got plenty to play for, because we want to improve the footy club and get ourselves to another level. We don’t want to waste any time doing that and we see the three weeks remaining of the year as a really important time for us.”

Jones, who has backed up his 2012 best and fairest winning season with another fine year, said one of his biggest challenges was overcoming run-with players.

“The majority of the year that’s probably happened and … it’s been pretty tough, but it’s been good for me to develop my game to be able to cope with that. I think over the last couple of weeks, there has been a fair bit of help,” he said.

“We’ve seen Jack Viney come in with some pretty good form and in particular a couple of teams have gone after Col Sylvia, who has really struck together some consistent form in the last four or five weeks as well.”

Jones praised the effort of teammate Jordie McKenzie and the assistance of Colin Garland against Gary Ablett last round. But he said Andrew Raines and Ryan Crowley were among the toughest taggers he had faced.

The vice-captain is likely to gain Crowley again this Sunday, when the Demons host Fremantle at the MCG.

“Ryan Crowley is always a pretty tough task,” he said.