MELBOURNE may be in contention for its first finals campaign in four years but captain James McDonald is hardly getting carried away with September talk.

Speaking the day after Sunday’s win over Richmond, McDonald said he and his teammates felt no pressure of expectation.

“That’s probably the external pressure. We’ve got ourselves in a position where the season is still alive but we’ve still got three games to go and a big one this week against Hawthorn," McDonald said on Monday morning. "That’s all we’ve got to focus on and that’s all we can control.

“It’s a big build-up and there is probably a bit of external pressure on us.

"As a young group we’re learning to deal with that sort of stuff so it will be a great experience for us.”

The Demons take on Hawthorn this weekend in their first meeting since the Hawks’ 56-point win in round one.

McDonald said a lot had changed since that match and his side gave themselves a strong chance against the team that has won their past five encounters against Melbourne.

“They have probably touched us up over the last two or three years," McDonald said. "It is going to be a great challenge for us.

"Our boys are probably a lot more confident playing them this week than we have been in the past.

“I think it is more a belief in each other that we are good enough to play against these better sides and we’ve shown that through the year.”

McDonald said while the Demons had shown improvement this year, they were still a while off matching it with the best in the competition.

“I know Dean (Bailey) always said when he first got to the club that you never put any limits on young players because you don’t know what they’re capable of,” he said.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do. We’re a long way off Geelong, the Bulldogs, St Kilda and Collingwood, so we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.”

Cancer-stricken president Jim Stynes was at the game against Richmond on Sunday but made an early departure because of health issues, but McDonald said as far as he knew Stynes was okay.

“I was speaking to Don McLardy, our vice-president after the game. He (Stynes) just had a bit of a headache, a migraine come on.

"That happens to him but I don’t know a lot about it. He just wasn’t feeling quite right so he just went home to put the feet up.”