The Demons have 11 players injured, with Jack Trengove suspended, but Bailey said he had expected more from the team against the Blues.
"To put in an ordinary performance tonight is not what we expected, regardless of who is wearing our jumper, so that was very disappointing," he said.
"But we get back on the horse again on Monday, we live to fight another day next Friday night and our performance has got to be better next week than what it was today."
Trengove will be back for the important clash against Essendon at the MCG next Friday night and Bailey said the club would take a close look at Tom Scully, who will play for Casey on Saturday as he returns from a knee injury.
The coach also suggested that Aaron Davey, who missed the match with a knee injury, was a 50-50 chance to return against the Bombers.
But Bailey believes it will be pride in performance and a desire to erase the Carlton defeat that will be the team's biggest motivation next week.
"We didn't perform anywhere near where we should have tonight and that will certainly be a motivating aspect for next week," he said.
The coach conceded there were few positives in the drubbing from the in-form Blues.
"I thought the second quarter we showed a few signs … we had a crack," he said.
But Bailey added that there were too many lapses in concentration throughout the match.
"If we scored a goal they were very quick to score one straight after us; it happened too often during the game," he said.
"There were times in the game where we were still try to have a crack, but when the pressure was put on we weren't there for the fight often enough, and that was disappointing.''
Bailey said the Demons were unable to take their opportunities against the Blues.
They had just 38 inside 50s for the match, and their conversion rate was miserable, kicking only six goals.
At times Melbourne went ultra-defensive, pushing back Jack Watts as a loose man in defence, but Bailey said the plan had to been to create more drive from the defensive half.
The plan had not worked because of the volume of turnovers, he said.
