WEST Coast coach Adam Simpson hopes the lightning break that halted play against Melbourne on Monday night proves to be the "divine intervention" that sparks his team's faltering season.
The Eagles will need to win their remaining two games, against Fremantle and Brisbane, to guarantee a top eight finish after losing to the top-placed Demons by nine points at Optus Stadium.
They will also need to overcome more injury issues after former skipper Shannon Hurn suffered a minor hamstring injury and defender Liam Duggan was withdrawn with knee soreness that could keep him sidelined for at least another week.
Simpson hoped the late surge against the Demons, which saw the Eagles pile on four unanswered goals and slash the margin from 33 points to nine, could inspire a late-season recovery.
"It was a bit of divine intervention I thought the way we were playing at the start of the last," Simpson said of the lightning break on Monday night.
"We saw a spark with our players we haven’t seen for a while. We need to leverage off that, but we still assess some of the points of the game where we got well beaten.
"We played the way we’d like to play. That’s a positive sign we can take from it. But we still have to work on the lapses and the momentum that costs us an extra two or three goals and puts the game almost out of reach."
Simpson praised the senior players who have been under pressure for leading the late fightback against an impressive Melbourne that secured a top-four finish.
The 10-10 Eagles, meanwhile, remain locked in seventh spot, where they have been at the ed of 13 of the past 14 rounds.
Midfielder Elliot Yeo was outstanding with 31 disposals (20 contested), 14 clearances and eight inside 50s, standing up in his best game since returning from osteitis pubis.
"You can tell when he clicks into that beast mode I suppose, and competing against a very good opposition," the coach said.
"I’m really happy for him that he finished off well.
"I thought Melbourne’s mids overall probably had a more consistent game, whereas we had periods when we were on top and we didn’t capitalise as much as Melbourne."
EAGLES v DEMONS Full match coverage and stats
Demons coach Simon Goodwin said his team had felt "pretty comfortable with where the game was sitting" when the match was halted in the fourth quarter but were left nervous during the final minutes.
"It was a difficult situation to go through and one we will learn from," he said.
"We could have done things in the last 10 minutes a hell of a lot better and we will continue to grab hold of those things and teach our group a bit more about game states in situations.
"We don't want to waste opportunity. It was a bizarre circumstance and one we hopefully don't have to encounter again."
Goodwin was pleased with the performance of tall forward Ben Brown, who booted a game-high three goals in the wet and took a big step to cementing his place ahead of finals.
"I thought he was terrific. Early in the game he gave us a real target. He has continued to build his game," Goodwin said.
"His competitive nature and his ability to hit the scoreboard is starting to come out. We're really happy with how Browny is progressing and his best footy is ahead of him, that's for sure."
The coach said the Demons would not flirt with their form and manage players unnecessarily now that they had secured a top four finish.
"We just want to keep building a winning culture. That's what you do as a footy club," he said.
"We want to create the habits that last you a long, long time as a footy club. It's important we continue to push that.
"In saying that, we certainly won't continue guys who are playing sore if we don't need to. But we want to continue playing the right way."
Defender Jayden Hunt suffered an ankle injury and will be sent for scans, with Goodwin hopeful the injury was not serious.
