WEST Coast coach Adam Simpson praised his side's effort against Greater Western Sydney but was left to lament its continued inability to finish off games on the road.

The Eagles fought back from a 20-point first-half deficit and pushed the Giants deep into the clash at Spotless Stadium on Saturday, but gave up the last three goals of the game to lose by 21 points.

They also faded in losses to Collingwood in round 18 and St Kilda two weeks later, with both games at Etihad Stadium, and while Simpson was pleased with the visitors' intensity, he said they simply need to learn how to do it for longer.

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West Coast fought hard and led the tackle count (59-48) and the clearances (42-34), but the coach said near enough isn't good enough.

"It's a non negotiable and what we expect every week, so I'm sure the players wouldn't say they were gallant in defeat," he said.

"The numbers probably blew out some of the numbers that had been pretty good for us all night, but in the end it was the same result and we're not shying away from that.

"There is some positivity about where we're going, but right now I'm struggling to find it.

Five talking points: Greater Western Sydney v West Coast

"We came here to win, we knew what was on the line and we were disappointed we didn't get the result."

Simpson wasn't too concerned with the details of what his side needs to do next week, with the Eagles facing a possibility that they need to beat Adelaide, possibly by a big margin, to make it into the finals.

His team will contest the last game of the regular season knowing exactly what is required, but Simpson wasn't sure if that was an advantage or not.

"I haven't even thought about it, and I knew what we needed to do tonight," he said.

WATCH: Adam Simpson's full post-match media conference 

"What you don't want to do - and we're in that phase now - we've got to rely on other teams.

"We haven't been able to win two games in a row for a long time, and regardless of effort that’s not good enough.

"What we need to do next week is win and that’s our starting point."