IN THE wake of Melbourne's gallant 16-point loss to Essendon at the MCG on Saturday, Demons coach Dean Bailey says his team has to harden up.

Three times the Demons fought back from several goals down to either get close or steal the lead, but each time it happened the Bombers were able to find another gear and power away.

Bailey was happy with the endeavour, but displeased with the inability to sustain the pressure required to win the game.

"We had our chances – we got close a couple of times, we fought back a couple of times, which was good in a young group," he said.

"But when you get the chance, after you've worked hard to get yourself back into the game and the scoreboard's pretty close, that's when it's game on. That's when you've got to actually continue on.

"You can't just relax for even a second or two, because good teams – and all teams – will score against you.

"We got ourselves back in that situation, which was good, but that's when you've really got to tighten the screws even further and work even harder to ensure you can get a lead.

"We got to almost there, and then we fell behind and we had to play catch-up for most of the day."

Bailey said the improvement was most needed in mental toughness and making the right decisions at crucial times.

"Once we get into that situation where the scoreboard is telling us we're in it, we need to fight really hard after that, so that we can kick the next goal and the next goal," he said.

"We shouldn't be happy with kicking two, but we need to make sure we keep that pressure on.

"The game is about decision-making, and the greatest test comes when the game's in the balance.

"The decision-making you make, when one – there's pressure on, and two – it's a close game.

"The good teams make the good decisions that make the game look a lot easier than it is.

"We're still working towards that - our young players are moving in the right direction.

"They're only taking pretty small steps, but I thought a couple of our young blokes today worked hard."