LIVEWIRE forward Jeremy Howe says his three-goal effort against West Coast Eagles at Etihad Stadium was his best performance yet for Melbourne.

Howe was one of the shining lights in Melbourne’s 46-point loss. He continually presented, took some impressive grabs and made the most of his opportunities.

Although disappointed with the loss, the 21-year-old said he took plenty of confidence from his game.

“It was pretty good. But I was pretty disappointed at missing that last shot for goal. Overall, I was happy with my game,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“I’ve been trying to work on my consistency, because I’ve been in and out of the quarters. But our second quarter this week and last week has cost us.

“We can’t do that against good sides, because they kick too many goals.”

Still, one of the positives Howe drew from the match was Melbourne’s contested possession count, which it won with 150 to 134.

“We worked really hard and tried to get our contested footy up,” he said.

“We ended up winning the contested footy on the day, but we just went away from our game plan a bit. We got beaten in contested footy and in tackles as well, so that cost us.

“When we’re up and about winning the contested footy and the tackles, that’s when we’re at our best. And we were unable to do that for four quarters.”

Howe said there were some pleasing signs against West Coast, although he said Melbourne’s up-and-down display again proved costly.

“We have proved that we’ve been able to match it with the top four teams, when we’re on our game,” he said.

“But our inconsistency throughout the game has cost us a fair bit.

“Personally, I gained a fair bit of confidence out of today. I was happy to kick a few goals. I took a bit of confidence out of it, so hopefully that’ll go into the next few games.”