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Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says Magpies 'betrayed' themselves

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Under-pressure Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley claims his players "betrayed themselves" in Sunday's loss to St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.

The Magpies struggled yet again to turn attacking forays into a winning score, mustering just seven goals from 50 inside-50s as they fell to the Saints by 14 points.

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Magpies slump to Saints

Collingwood couldn't overcome St Kilda as the Magpies suffered their third loss of 2017 by 14 points.

The loss left Collingwood with just one win from four games, sending the Pies further behind the eight-ball ahead of next week's Anzac Day clash against Essendon.

While Buckley refused to single out underperforming young forward Darcy Moore, who again failed to kick a single goal, he conceded that his side was becoming "disheartened" by its inability to finish.

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With that in mind, Buckley – who is out-of-contract at season's end – said he would consider bringing in injury-prone recruit Daniel Wells and father-son selection Josh Daicos to take on the Bombers.

Aside from their attacking woes, Buckley highlighted the Magpies' inconsistent effort on Sunday.

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They led by nine points at quarter-time but fell away in the second and third terms. They rallied late in the game, briefly threatening to steal the match from the similarly profligate Saints, but Buckley insisted it was "too little, too late".

"The first-quarter workrate was OK. So we jumped into the game all right," Buckley said.

"The second and third quarters were really disappointing, and there's no doubt that the efforts we saw through the middle parts of the game were betrayed by what we saw in the last 10 minutes. And the players are aware of that.

"It was too little, too late. And as I said, the players felt like they betrayed themselves in that regard."

Buckley also lamented what he said was a "20 per cent" decline in pressure compared to last weekend's win over Sydney. "We're disappointed with that," he said.

"That comes back to workrate and intent. If you saw the intent of the Sydney game, you're not going 

to be 1-3 if you give that every week." While captain Scott Pendlebury lowered his colours on Sunday, Buckley denied the skipper was injured, or that he had been benched for a prolonged period in the third quarter due to poor form earlier in the game.

Meanwhile, Saints coach Alan Richardson conceded his side hadn't produced anywhere near a perfect display of football against the Pies, but said he was still mostly pleased at what he saw.

"Our tackle pressure was really positive, everyone knows how strong they [Collingwood] were in that area last week," Richardson said.

"At times we overused it and at times that was to take the sting out of the game. We want to be a more penetrating team from an offensive point of view.

"It wasn't an amazing game of footy from a technical or skill perspective, it was a real scrap. But yeah, it is pleasing a couple weeks in a row to win when you'renot at your best."

He said it was particularly pleasing that although his side lost the clearance count comprehensively, it still won the inside-50 count.

Midfielder David Armitage, who had missed two matches with a groin complaint, would be monitored after just managing to finish on Sunday.

"He got quite sore late. He needed to get assisted off right at the end there, so we will just have to see how Dave pulls up."

Richardson said Paddy McCartin, who kicked two goals in the VFL on Saturday, may be considered for selection in round five against Geelong.

"Yeah [he comes back into contention after VFL performance], I was at the game but we had quite a few guys who performed strongly," he said.

Richardson's highest praise was reserved for veteran tall Nick Riewoldt, who had 22 disposals, 15 marks and booted one goal.

"I am pretty sure the footy world knows how professional he is.

"He is an amazing athlete the way he prepares himself," Richardson said. 

"It was incredible he was able to get himself to the line last week 

and perform so strongly, let alone today. 

"He is a beauty, a great example for a lot of our young players."