North Melbourne will drop off-target forward Lindsay Thomas this weekend, for his own good.

Coach Brad Scott says Thomas, the club's leading goal-kicker last year, would be harmed more than helped by remaining at AFL level, given his mental struggles in front of goal.

He has managed just 17.29 this season, including spraying a close-range set-shot from dead in front against Collingwood last round.

Thomas was later spotted on the bench with his head in his hands, covered by a towel.

Scott said the forward's mental demons had grown to the point that they had little choice but to drop him.

"He clearly admits that he's got some real issues that he needs to deal with and we're doing everything in our power to address that," Scott said on Thursday.

"We've got to the point now that I've had to make the decision that we're actually hurting Lindsay more by sending him out there to play.

"He's also not helping the team out there.

"Some of his defensive work is fantastic, but he's out there, to be honest, to kick goals and to create goals for us.

"He's just unable to do that at the moment.

"So we want to free the shackles, send him back to the VFL and really get him really enjoying his footy again."

Scott said he had not contemplated playing Thomas further upfield, as it would only be a band-aid solution.

"We're not going to hide him in positions just to get a short-term cover-up of what is a fundamental issue," he said.

Scott said Thomas took the news of his demotion well and would return to the AFL side once he sorted out his kicking issues.

The Kangaroos coach expected a strong response from his side against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday, after their 117-point belting from the top-placed Magpies.

He described them as "devastated", "depressed" and "shell-shocked" in the aftermath of that defeat and said they would not need any urging from him to seek to atone against the Dogs.

"It's the fabric of this football club, those performances are not acceptable from anyone ever involved with North Melbourne and we're well aware of that," Scott said.

"I'm just absolutely livid that I've been a part of a loss like that because that's not what this football club is about.

"We don't even have to talk about what sort of stand we're going to make, it's expected at this club."

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