Dean Laidley's relationship with the North Melbourne players will be crucial to his future at the AFL club, according to chairman James Brayshaw.

North Melbourne are in big trouble with only two wins from six games, following Friday night's 52-point loss to Collingwood.

Laidley is among seven coaches out of contract later this year and his fate is a complex decision for the Kangaroos board.

Daniel Pratt's knee injury against the Magpies will put him out of action for around a fortnight and adds to their long casualty list.

The side will also be without captain Brent Harvey for up to three months and the team is also in a state of transition following the departure of several veterans in the last couple of years.

Asked on Saturday if the state of the team made the decision tougher, Brayshaw told Triple M radio: "Yes, it probably does".

He said the club had made it clear to Laidley already this year that the win-loss record would not be central to his fate.

"This season was never about wins and losses," Brayshaw said.

"He's always had an amazing win-loss ratio ... it's more about his relationship with the players and the players' relationship with him and them growing together.

"He's got an amazing ability to get teams to win."

Apart from Friday night's three emergencies, Laidley said North probably only had another two AFL-standard players available for selection.

North never stopped trying against the Magpies, but their skills let them down.

"I said to him during the week 'it's almost the most mentally comfortable place you've been in, because you've only got 25-26 blokes to pick from anyway," Brayshaw told Triple M.

"So you're hand's forced, you're going to have to play these blokes and you're going to have to teach them and keep teaching them.

"Get them to go through the corridor which, to their credit, they tried to do last night, (they) often coughed it up in horrible fashion.

"I would prefer and I'm pretty sure all North Melbourne people would prefer to see that attempting to happen than what we saw the week before, which was stagnant and wide."

North are likely to regain Matt Campbell, while Laidley said Daniel Wells was "50-50, at best".

The Kangaroos host Port Adelaide next Saturday night, while Collingwood have a long break before the Monday night game against St Kilda.

Paul Medhurst is the Magpies' latest injury concern after he hurt his ankle against North and he was in a lot of discomfort post-match.

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