KEY forward Chris Dawes says Melbourne must start strongly against the in-form Western Bulldogs.

Speaking to Dee TV, Dawes said it was imperative the Demons didn’t start sluggishly like it did against the Kangaroos last round and play catch-up football.

“There were a lot of areas of concern [last round]. The most obvious was the way we started the game, but there were still positives to be taken out of the game, particularly the second and third quarters,” he said.

“I thought the way we moved the ball was the way we’ve been planning to do it for the last month or two. For that to translate into games was good.

“But the first quarter – the way we started the game and were beaten around the contest was so disappointing, given that’s supposed to be a strength of ours.”

Dawes said the Demons were quietly confident about their chances against the Dogs, although he acknowledged the red, white and blue had been an outstanding outfit this season.

“I didn’t play [against the Bulldogs] when we played them during the year, but watching that – our key forwards had a real impact that day. Jesse [Hogan] started and [Cam] Pedersen played that day and played his role really well,” he said.

“We should definitely have confidence against them, but they’re a top four and we’re coming off a really disappointing performance on the weekend.

“The biggest thing for us is addressing the way we started the game. We can’t afford to give up a head start like we did against North, because as we saw on the weekend, if you give up a five goal lead like that against a half decent team and you won’t get back in the contest.”