BRETT Ratten has praised Alastair Clarkson for setting up North Melbourne's recent improvement as the club awaits a return date for its senior coach.
The caretaker coach did not take any credit for the Roos' competitiveness since he took over, likening it to the system Clarkson had set up before he took indefinite leave in May.
It comes after a spike in improvement from the young Kangaroos, with an unlucky three-point loss to Sydney, a 35-point loss to Collingwood and a heartbreaking six-point loss to Essendon coming since Ratten took charge.
"What we've seen is some of the work we've done when Al was here actually starting to transfer over," Ratten said on Wednesday.
"Sometimes you work on things and they take a week, they take a month, sometimes they take a year.
"If Al was here, this would be the same. We're getting the benefits of it now."
Ratten said he was still unsure when Clarkson may return to the coaches' box after no adverse findings were made against any person as a result of the independent investigation, which was ended last week, into historical allegations of racism at Hawthorn.
That led to Hawks champion Cyril Rioli identifying himself as one of six complainants who will take their case to the Human Rights Commission.
"We don't need to put Al under any pressure. There's no timeline here," Ratten said.
"Let him take as long as he wants. Is it two weeks, is it four weeks, is it six weeks, is it post-season? I don't know.
"But what I do know is give him the time, give him the space (to) get back and be fresh and ready to go, because as we found out through 'Dimma' (Damien Hardwick) and others, it is a challenging job."
Despite the Kangaroos' recent promising signs, Ratten is adamant his side is not just settling for close losses.
"The reality is we've been competitive and we like the performance, but we haven't won and that's what we're striving for," he said.
"We need to win games of footy and from our point of view we like the way we're trending, but we would like the four points as well."
The Kangaroos now look to take their recent form to Blundstone Arena, as they face the also-improving Greater Western Sydney in an intriguing clash on Sunday afternoon.
