COACH Paul Roos says the Demons won’t alter a thing as they approach a challenging eight-week block, which starts this round against Port Adelaide in Alice Springs, before their next break in the split round 18.

The Demons play top eight teams Port Adelaide (twice), Collingwood, North Melbourne, Fremantle and Geelong during this period, plus Essendon (11^th on the ladder) and the Western Bulldogs (14^th) before their next bye.

Despite a testing time looming for the Dees, Roos said it was business as usual from his perspective. 

“Nothing really changes for us. When you look at the draw and every game’s a hard game for a team that finished 17^th last year – so [there is] no real changes,” he said on Dee TV’s Roos’ Views.

“It’s really trying to set ourselves up for the future and trying to improve, so whoever we play, we’re going to try and play the same way.

“The better teams have got more talent and you’ve got to try and curb that talent and play better than what we have against the other teams. I think the pleasing thing is that the three wins we’ve had have been against Richmond and Carlton, who have been finalists from last year and Adelaide in Adelaide and they were preliminary finalists the year before.

“So it’s about us concentrating on what we do and trying to get better as a team every week.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s first match for premiership points in Alice Springs, Roos said it was a great opportunity for the Demons to help showcase the game in the Northern Territory. 

“The NAB Challenge was great, playing Geelong up there [in February]. The people up there were fantastic and it’s a great sponsorship for us – and they were tremendously supportive,” he said.

“I know the guys really enjoyed the Geelong game and [we’re] looking forward to getting back up there and playing a game for four points.”

Roos said it was a great opportunity for his emerging team to test its mettle against the top of the table Power.

“They’re a terrific team and in really good form – they had a great game against Hawthorn last week,” he said.

“I think their strength is just their balance – they’ve got a really well balanced team and they’re working really hard and [they’ve got no major] injuries at the moment.

“It is a test for us – we think we’re playing better footy than we certainly were in rounds one to three … and we think we’re improving on a weekly basis. This is clearly the biggest test for us this season.”

Meanwhile, Roos said last weekend’s bye was timely for the players and coaches, and they have since come back strongly.

“The two training sessions have been terrific this week, which has been good,” he said.

“There has been a lot of energy, but you’ve got to translate that now into playing a game of footy against a really good football team.

“Certainly this week, we’ve been happy with the way we’ve trained and the way we’ve come back from the bye, but the proof will be on the weekend.”