North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has blamed concentration, not physical clout, for their disastrous AFL fadeout against the Western Bulldogs.

Scott has called on North players to make better decisions throughout the whole game when they host Fremantle in Saturday's must-win clash at Etihad Stadium.

The Kangaroos are one game plus percentage outside the top eight following Sunday's 71-point thrashing from the Bulldogs.

Scott pointed out after that game that they matched the `Dogs for 80 minutes, but were outclassed in the last 40.

"We've addressed the things we let ourselves down in ... it's as much a mental thing, it's as much concentration as it is a physical issue," Scott said.

"We had some pretty severe mental lapses against the Western Bulldogs that let them in for easy goals.

"We've really addressed the decision-making errors that cost us and that's the issue, we need to have a good, four-quarter effort in terms of concentration, rather than just physically running out the game."

The Kangaroos have bolstered their lineup for the Dockers, who are fifth and belted North by 61 points at Subiaco in round 10.

North will regain Daniel Wells, Daniel Pratt, Nathan Grima and Cruize Garlett, plus the Dockers will be without star ruckman Aaron Sandilands, who is injured.

Scott has repeated his mantra of late that the finals are irrelevant, unless North play better against sides such as Fremantle.

"It's really important, we can't control what's going on with the other teams but this, no doubt, is one we need to win to keep our chances alive," Scott said.

"As I repeatedly say, we get an opportunity now against a side that's definitely going to play finals, to prove that we belong in September.

"At the moment, we've proved we belong about ninth.

"We don't just want to limp in there, we want to get in there on merit, we've got a great opportunity against Fremantle and St Kilda over the next two weeks to show we can play September-standard football.

"If we can't play September-standard football, we don't deserve to be there."

Scott said Sandilands' replacement, Kepler Bradley, was not be taken lightly, pointing out he kicked four goals against North earlier this season.

"It (Sandilands' absence) is a bit of a bonus for us, hopefully we can get some ruck dominance in there, but we're by no means underestimating Kepler Bradley," Scott said.

"We don't want to go in thinking that because Sandilands isn't going to be there, that it's going to be easy for us at the centre bounces or around the ground.

"You can bring all the names in you want, you really have to perform on the day and they gave us a real lesson over in Subiaco.

"We have to turn around a lot of things from that game."

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