COACH Dean Bailey says any talk of finals is coming externally, rather than internally as the Demons move to seven-and-a-half wins and 30 points for the season.

The Dees have edged closer to the top eight, on the back of a 10-point win over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Saturday night, but Bailey said talk of September should be tempered.

“We don’t talk about it (finals), because we’ve got a game next week,” he said.

“You can talk about it and write it, but we have been - and we continue to be - about improving and getting better as a club.

“Our players need to gain great experience, just like [the win over the Lions]. There was a number of young players who have been in our team for the last two or three years who [were in the team] the last time we came up here and the Lions really put it to us.

“I think they won really easily with a nine or 10-goal win, so we’ve won a game on the road, which is very important to our club. Next week is the great challenge to see if we can keep the momentum going.”

Bailey praised assistant coach Sean Wellman for his ability to mould the impressive backline group, while he said midfielder/forward Colin Sylvia (a game-high 31 disposals) had matured as a player in recent times.

“Col contributed. He’s been in good form in the last couple of weeks, which is good for him,” he said.

“He works very hard, Col. He works hard on the training track and he’s always wanted to get better, so I think his contribution was expected from a player that’s played that many games now.”

Meanwhile, Bailey hinted first year Demon Jack Trengove would be ready to return in round 19.

“Jack had a couple of weeks [out] where he had a hip flexor [injury], so to some degree we were cautious with him, but I think he just needed to play a game,” he said.

“So hopefully he’ll get through [the match with Casey on Sunday] and play well and be in contention next week.”