The Western Bulldogs’ hard fought battle against Geelong displayed a number of positives, Jason Tutt says, despite being beaten by a more experienced opponent.

The applied pressure produced by the Bulldogs was a highlight, while improved delivery into the forward line allowed the home side to be within striking distance mid-way through the final quarter.

The 21-year-old midfielder said the team were not accepting of honourable losses, but that it was good to see an improved effort from the previous fortnight.

“You don’t want to lose games but I think for us to hang in there and put a lot of pressure on them… it was a good effort,” Tutt said.

“The backs did a tremendous job to cutting off the ball and giving us forwards good service.”

Tutt was one of the youngsters that competed well through the match, using his bursts of speed to make ground and pressure his opponents – finishing with 16 disposals, seven marks, three inside 50s and a goal assist.

“It’s good to get my hands on the footy and try to take it on as much as I can,” Tutt said.

“[It] would have been nice to kick those two goals but that’s footy - I will go and practice them and I won’t miss them again.”

The defensive side of Tutt’s game has also markedly improved this year, as he seeks to find a balance between his offensive and defensive game.

“I am just trying to build on it game by game… one of my main attributes is speed, so [I] just try to use that in attack and defence and try to lock the ball in our forward 50 as much as possible,” he said.

Holding Geelong goalless in the final term, the Bulldogs also won the second half of football, which was another positive on the night.

At the other end of the ground, the Bulldogs’ forward line competed strongly against a much more mature Geelong defence.

Tutt attributes better team cohesion and said the signs shown from the young group on Saturday bode well for their future. 

“I think it’s just good that we had a pretty young forward line out there and Stringer kicked three – Jonesy kicked four and Dahl kicked his,” Tutt said.

“It’s good that the younger guys are starting to gel really well…we haven’t played a lot of footy together, so it is really important that we do that.”