Like when he was a naughty little kid, Michael Voss doesn't think the threat of the wooden spoon will change the Brisbane Lions behaviour.

Brisbane (5-13) face last-placed West Coast on Saturday night in Perth in what looms as the AFL's wooden-spoon decider.

Both clubs sit in the bottom two positions on the ladder with the Lions holding a one-match advantage over John Worsfold's Eagles with four rounds to go.

Voss, who badly broke his leg in the merged club's only last-placed finish in 1998, admitted it was hard to fathom Brisbane's harrowing position considering their 4-0 start to the year.

But while the hurting team was desperate to end a forgettable season on a high, he said they wouldn't be motivated by avoiding the spoon.

"The players know where they're at, there's no point me threatening it," Voss said on Monday.

"My mum used to threaten me with the wooden spoon, it didn't change my behaviour. So I don't think me threatening them will change the situation really at all.

"We've slowly been making ground rather than wins and that's going to be our firm focus in the last month."

Despite losing to Geelong and Melbourne in the past fortnight, Voss has been well pleased by a large improvement in effort since a disastrous 75-hammering to Hawthorn.

The persistence, commitment and genuine pain shown by his players has given him hope of an immediate turnaround in 2011.

"These guys are genuinely hurting and some of the greatest turnarounds come from the greatest pain," Voss said. "That really drives how you want to be as a group for the future.

"Let's hope that this is this moment and this is an important stage at this club regardless of what happens from here.

"Wins are important ... but the important thing for us is the pain we are feeling now has to propel us and has to set us on a direction forward."

The Lions should know on Tuesday whether star recruit Brendan Fevola will appear again this season after undergoing scans on his torn groin.

In encouraging news, former St Kilda midfielder Xavier Clarke's injury-affected season remains alive with a positive assessment on the hamstring he strained 16 minutes into his return match.

Proud is set for a return against Adelaide on August 15 while James Polkinghorne (quad) and Andrew Raines (quad) are set for fitness tests this week.

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