PAUL Roos says his side’s third quarter performance was one of the few positives from an otherwise miserable 98-point loss against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Trailing by 73 points at half-time, the Demons found another gear in the third term kicking five to zero, as the Bulldogs managed just two behinds.

The third quarter turnaround by the Demons was the only light in a bleak day as the top-four Bulldogs slammed on another 10 goals to one in the fourth quarter. Roos conceded he didn't see the drubbing coming.

"It's disappointing," he said.

"To me it looked like a team that had top-four to play for against a team that is looking for the year to finish.

"That's the style of footy we are trying to implement, that's the way we have to play to be a good team and it's the way the Bulldogs have set their team up for the last three years.

"It was really frustrating that it only happened in one quarter – you hope the players look at that quarter and say ‘we can do it’. It's just whether we choose to do it or not."

Roos said he thought the club had addressed some concerns of player fatigue during the week, but it did little to help as the Bulldogs went on a rampage.

"The worry is when you get to this stage of the year you can't get into the players’ minds about how they want to play the remainder of the season. There was no question from the Bulldogs point of view that they were going to come to play," he said.

"It gives our guys a constant reminder of where the games starts and finishes. It starts around the contest and if you get beaten in that area, it's hard to plug all the holes in the ship.

"We got smashed around the ball in the first half."

Neville Jetta was subbed off at half-time with pins and needles in his neck/shoulder region and was sent for scans, but Roos couldn't elaborate on the injury post-match.

Apart from Tom McDonald who had 29 disposals (20 kicks and nine handballs) and 13 marks, Roos said finding a consistent performer from his troops wasn't an easy task.

"It was hard to find consistently good players for us and that typifies that result," he said.

"Those games sometimes aren't worth reviewing, other than the fact that we have to keep reinforcing to our players the way we want to play as a group.

"It's a frustrating day for everyone – there is no doubt about that and it really illustrates the gap of the top four teams and where we are. It's still a big gap."