Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has conceded that his side has lost confidence after losing six games in a row.

“The comment about forgetting how to win is really apt, especially for a young group,” Buckley said.

“Mick (Malthouse) said during the week that it’s an excuse, and it is. And it’s a reasonable one. We know we can play better footy than we have in the last couple of weeks.

“You do have to learn to win, and then you have learn to handle winning as a list and as a group.

“We’ve got elements of our playing list at the moment that have been through a successful period … and they’ve learnt to win and handle winning.

“We need to find that again as an organisation.

“To get to 8-3 was really positive for us but we’ve just fallen short in the last couple. I think that’s probably put a bit of a dent in our confidence. It doesn’t take away the fundamentals that we need to get back to playing our best footy and that’s what we’re focusing on.”