Western Bulldogs senior coach Luke Beveridge says ironing out the on-field inconsistencies will remain a key focus for the team.

The Bulldogs fell to Hawthorn by seven points on Sunday afternoon – their sixth loss decided by under 10 points in 10 games – with Beveridge acknowledging the score conceded through turnovers a major factor in the result.

“Tonight we couldn’t move the footy from our back-end. There’s the game,” he said post-match.

“Up until two weeks ago we’d given up the least scoring in the competition from turning it over in our defensive area of the ground - tonight we turned it over 24 times and let Hawthorn score 8.4 (52).

“It’s world record scores from those turnovers. Some of them were so blatant that we couldn’t defend them. That’s a skill and decision aspect of the game.

“That’s what we’re working towards ironing out – being a team that can continually either maintain momentum or stop it when there’s a spike going the other way.

Beveridge said despite the result, he is confident the group will rally together as their attention shifts to this weekend.

“Attitudinally the boys are up for the fight - but ultimately we’re searching for our place in the competition and remain optimistic. We believe we can still win more than we lose,” he said.

“It’s deflating but we have to stay the course and continue to rub shoulders. We need to look after each other and search for our next win.

“The competition is tight. You only need to lose a handful of contests that you potentially should win, or blatantly turn the ball over like we did on an afternoon like today and you’re vulnerable.

“The boys hung in there, but a lot of damage was done throughout the afternoon prior to hitting the lead.

“We’ll lick our wounds – those isolated incidents in the game, the players will hurt more than anyone.”

The Bulldogs will meet Richmond at the MCG on Saturday night in Round 9.