The Western Bulldogs' 18-point loss to Brisbane on Sunday was 'a little bit soul destroying' for senior coach Luke Beveridge.
The Bulldogs took it up to their more fancied opponents for much of the round 20 contest and finished the match in front in many of the major statistical indicators.
They won the clearances by 10 (42-32) and had five more inside 50s (59-54), but they failed to take advantage of their dominance and convert their opportunities on the scoreboard.
"We squandered too many chances and that was frustrating," Beveridge said.
"It is a little bit soul destroying when you are working so hard in open field and you've almost got too much time and give the ball straight back to them.
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"The positive thing from our point of view is we are not far away.
"We had chances that weren’t too difficult, so we shot ourselves in the foot."
The loss leaves the Bulldogs with a mountain to climb if they are to make the finals.
They are in 10th position, but their poor percentage means they will likely require wins over Essendon, GWS and Adelaide in the final three rounds to have any chance of qualifying for September.
"We are still in there with a hope," Beveridge said.
"We will aim to win every one of these next three, then who knows?
"There may be a sniff at the end of it.
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"We will take the positive out of it that we weren’t far away and we will take that encouragement into Essendon this week."
If the Dogs are any chance of beating Essendon next week they will need another strong performance from superstar midfielder and Brownlow Medal hopeful Marcus Bontempelli.
Bontempelli helped drag the Bulldogs back into the contest with a dominant third term against the Lions and finished the match with an impressive 35 disposals, seven tackles and one goal.
"He always doing what he can for the team and he often finds a spark when we need it," Beveridge said.
"There is the quantity aspect ... and there is a quality aspect too.
"He gave us some momentum, took us forward with the ball and we gained some advantage from his play.
"He has had an outstanding year."
