MIDFIELDER Bernie Vince says Melbourne’s 20-point loss to Port Adelaide in Alice Springs was more frustrating than its second round shocker to the West Coast Eagles.

Vince said the reason was due to the fact that the Demons were right in the mix to overcome the top of the ladder Power at TIO Traeger Park Oval on Saturday, whereas their 93-point loss to the Eagles at the MCG in March was no contest.

“That’s probably our most disappointing effort – that West Coast game – but apart from that, we’ve been in every game and won a few along the way,” he told Dee TV.

“We’ve been in winnable positions in a lot of the games that we’ve lost – that’s what gets frustrating. They’re probably more frustrating than the West Coast game, because we were in it.

“It was certainly good that we gave ourselves a chance, but we’ve got to win those games.”

Vince said a lack of confidence was no longer an issue for the team, although it fell away late in the match against the Power.

“We’ve got belief in ourselves and we’ve certainly got the talent in our group – it’s just a bit of composure late,” he said.

“We turned the ball over late and everyone’s tired, and everyone ran really hard today. It was a pretty hot day today and Port is one of the fittest teams in the comp, so we really took it up to them.

“I just think [we were] under a bit of fatigue and we made some [poor] decisions late that probably cost us. It was pleasing to put ourselves in that winning position, but we’ve got to win.”

But Vince acknowledged Port Adelaide as the quality team it has been all season.

“We knew we were coming up against a very good side on top of the ladder and they’re not there for any reason – they’ve played some great footy all year,” he said.

“It was a pleasing thing to put ourselves in a winnable position late in the last quarter, but … we’ve got to turn those games into wins.

“We can’t be resting and be happy with that – we’ve got to be really taking it up to Collingwood on Queen’s Birthday.”

Vince, who had 26 disposals against the Power, said his game was “not too bad”, but he was more concerned with the team’s performance.

“It was more about the team than anything. As a team, those tackles were a bit low. We’d like to have our tackle count up a bit higher and that’s what we rate ourselves on – our defensive game,” he said.

“It was a bit disappointing in that area as a team, but we don’t really look at individual stuff – it’s more of a team stat. It was probably a little bit disappointing in that area.”

With the Demons set to host the Magpies in the traditional Queen’s Birthday clash against the MCG on Monday, June 9, Vince said it was another great opportunity to take on one of the competition’s best this year.

“We’ll do the same thing and go the same way. We’ll coming up again against a really good side – a top four side, so we’ll just prepare the same way, come out and have a crack and run hard,” he said.

“We’ll believe in ourselves and [we] believe that we can win against any side now. Port is the top side and anyone we play, we think we can win.

“It’s a big step from last year, coming into this season, so we’ll prepare exactly the same way and hopefully get a good crowd there.”