ROSS Lyon says he's not going to "throw the baby out with the bath water", but admits his side needs to improve significantly to play finals after slumping to 3-3 following a 13-point loss to North Melbourne.

The Dockers’ 13-match home winning streak at Patersons Stadium was snapped by the Roos’ stunning win on Friday night, where the visitors trailed at every stage before kicking the last four goals of the match.

Lyon admits to being nervous about his side's precarious situation after six rounds, but believes there is no magic formula to fix it.

"All of us are a bit nervous, I'm nervous. I don't like losing," Lyon said. 

"We don't like losing. But we certainly win and lose together. There's no witch-hunt here. We understand our supporters and members will be disappointed.

"It's not ideal, we get that. But we're going to need to play better football more consistently than we did tonight to be in the hunt for a finals berth." 

Lyon believes his side performed well in a number of key areas against the Kangaroos, but were again plagued by simple errors at both ends. 

"On the surface, we did a lot of things I would like," Lyon said. 

"We won the ground ball war. We had 55 (inside 50) entries to 45. We took more marks inside 50. 

"Around the ground clearances were strong, but at the end of the day, quite simply there were two areas that stand out. 

"They kicked 3.1 from four forward 50m clearances, which is really opportunistic and disappointing from our end. I think we've had two for the year kicked against us. 

"And secondly, it's a game of scoring off turnovers. We both had equal opportunities, about 45 possession gains through the midfield, and we scored at about 18 per cent and they scored 30 per cent."

Lyon was frustrated by his side’s skill errors forward of centre against the Sydney Swans last weekend, and again the Dockers' inability to capitalise on their opportunities haunted the Fremantle coach. 

But Lyon refused to use the absence of Hayden Ballantyne (suspended) and Michael Walters (ankle) as an excuse for a side that managed just two goals after half time.

"I don't think it's about one player," Lyon said.

"I think it's about the team running and spreading and using the ball well, taking their marks and hitting their targets. 

"Not forcing the ball through areas where it doesn't need to go. I don't think it's about Hayden."

Ballantyne will be available for the vital Western Derby next weekend, but Lyon believes Michael Barlow will probably miss another week with his knee injury.