MIDFIELDER Jordie McKenzie says Melbourne’s increased depth in the engine room has made it tougher to win a place in the side.

McKenzie, who has been a regular for the Demons in recent seasons, has had to work his way back into the senior team, after he missed the first two matches of the season with a foot injury.

After playing in rounds four and five, McKenzie was out of the side for the next six matches, but was right on the cusp, being an emergency from rounds 10 to 12, before he was recalled against the Dons.

“We’ve got more depth in the midfield this year, which is a good sign, when it’s tight for spots and blokes have to string some good VFL footy together to put their hand up,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“It’s no doubt what happens at the good clubs throughout the AFL.

“People have to get a few more runs on the board to break into the senior side, which is the way it should be.”

McKenzie said his preparation for matches remained exactly the same – whether it was in the AFL or VFL.

“You want to play in the AFL and that’s the aim, but if I do play VFL, I still look forward to that challenge. Just because I haven’t played a heap of VFL in the last few years, it definitely hasn’t thrown me out,” he said.

“I was able to work on other areas of my game at VFL level, like my offensive game. And when I got the call-up, I was confident I’d played myself into some pretty good form.

“That’s what Roosy wants – players who are confident and in good form.”  

As for McKenzie’s aims for the rest of the season, the popular Demon simply wants to continue to develop with the rest of the team.

“We just want to keep improving, because we’ve made some good inroads up until this stage,” he said.

“We’ve beaten some good sides and we’ve just got to keep developing the areas that we’ve been struggling in.

“We’re still working hard on the things that have been working well for us, like the defensive area of our game, which has improved a lot.”